Drew Barrymore [DBARR] has had many ups and downs in her storied career. She won hearts first in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and then Firestarter. She became one of the few Hollywood children to be standing strong and succeed as an adult. Being part of Hollywood’s Barrymore clan didn’t keep Drew from working hard. She is a credible romantic comedy heroine in such films as Ever After and Never Been Kissed. Drew has made her mark producing features like the Charles Angeles series, Donnie Darko and most recently, He’s Just Not That Into You.
It was only a matter of time before Ms. Barrymore assumed the role of director. She has done exactly that with this weekend’s release Whip It [WHIPT]. The film stars Ellen Page [EPAGE] in the plum lead role of Bliss. Other “girl power” reps include Eve, Juliette Lewis [JLEWI], Kristen Wiig [KWIIG], Zoe Bell [ZBELL] and Barrymore herself.
Living in a small Texas town, Bliss is in constant rebellion with conventional life, and with being a former beauty queen contestant. The Texan culture allows little room for her free spiritedness to grow. To find meaning to her existence and rid the taste of tacky pageants, she joins a women’s roller derby league in Austin, the cool town of Texas. Here, she meets a band of women who take life by the horns and don’t settle for anyone. Bliss is overjoyed as her newfound friends and teammates nurture her own inner hero.
Based on the novel ‘Derby Girl’ by Shauna Cross, Whip It hopes to bring back the young girls and women who loved Page in Juno. It is one of the only films out that truly caters to a female audience. Part A League of Their Own girl camaraderie and part coming-of-age, the film has much to offer all moviegoers. With her success as a producer, Barrymore looks like she will add successful director to her repertoire.
Tag(s): DBARR, WHIPT, EPAGE, JLEWI, KWIIG, ZBELL