Whip It

In Whip It, a small town high school girl (Ellen Page), tired of the pageant circuit her mom espouses, finds a rebellious outlet at a local big-city roller derby match. When she learns that the team is having auditions, she tries out and lands a spot. It’s a rough-and-tumble new world that she finds dangerous and exciting … as long as she can keep it from her parents (Marcia Gay Harden, Daniel Stern).

The ClearPlay Factor

As you can imagine, the world of roller derby can be filled with decadent partying and a raucous lifestyle. Though Whip It earned a PG-13 rating for “sexual content including crude dialogue, language and drug material,” the ClearPlayed version is much tamer. About 30 instances of profanity and a number of dialogue references to sex and anatomy are edited, as are some scenes of crude behavior. The irreverence and attitude still come with the territory.

Will Whip It make me want to strap on the skates?…

Having teenage girls myself, about the last thing I wanted to see was a movie about a disobedient teen girl drawn to anarchy. Nevertheless, this debut directorial outing by Drew Barrymore is infectious, with fun, likable characters, and is by far the best movie ever about roller derby. Ellen Page is appealing as a petite girl among tough roller derby pros, and a strong supporting cast (including Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis and Jimmy Fallon) adds to the charm. Due to pervasive rebelliousness, I’d still be careful which kids I included in screening it.

Marty Nabhan—ClearPlay Jammer

Rated PG-13 for sexual content including crude dialogue, language and drug material.; 111 min; Directed By Drew Barrymore