Whip It - 4 stars out of 5 stars

Back when I was young,roller derby rivaled wrestling as sport/theater.Somewhere along the way wrestling became king and roller derby disappeared for the most part.Maybe a victim of womens lib??At any rate imagine my surprise when I saw this movie released in 2009 at 111 minutes with a major cast,no way I couldn't check it out.I'll take a star off for a film full of cliches but nothing else is wrong with the film.The casting is inspired and well the location of Austin ( there is no Bodeen Texas)is near my new home of Round Rock Texas.It's the basic story,teen is growing up to moms expectations,not hers,she finds something she likes,and  love with a boy and girl friend bonding.You get the picture.What separates this film is the throw back of roller derby.What a stroke of genius to add life to that worn out cliche of teenage angst.The cast is stellar with Ellen Page as Bliss Cavendar,derby queen name of Babe Ruthless and Kristen Wiig as Maggie Mayhem,Juliette Lewis as Iron Maven with the directorial debut of Drew Barrymore as Smashley Simpson and Jimmy Fallon as 'Hot Tub' Johnny Rocket  to name a few.Once you get over the here we go again cliches and let the roller derby aspect take you away,you get a whole new spin and it's not so corny after all.After giving herself to a small time rocker Landon Pigg as Oliver,she finds out he cheated and dumps him.It's a new take because she gave him her old Strykers tee and she saw a girl wearing it and holding HIS hand on His website. Her dad finally realizes she's to be proud of and puts a sign in the yard with her derby name and number as neighbors do with their sons football numbers.Mom finally realizes local beauty pageants were her dream only.Typical but with this cast and roller derby,its golden.As usual a trailer URL is below the pix

.http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1405354521/