- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
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- 18,411
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
Whip It, from Fox, is not a film that one might think of as having been directed by the likes of Brooks, Zinnemann, Lean, or even the ever-comedic Murnau. But as the initial entrance of a directorial toe into the filmmaking waters by Drew Barrymore (you'll remember her as the little girl in Altered Stated), it works. Filled with both youthful enthusiasm and enough cinematic cliches to fill a textbook, the film comes off as a nice ride following Ellen Page (you loved her as the sweet young thing in the indie Hard Candy) as she grows and rebels against her over-controlling mother, and sets her own course.
You won't find a great deal of scripted depth of character here, but Page makes the character reasonably believable. I kept thinking that she must have served as a good and willing canvas for Barrymore's initial effort.
Is this earth-shakingly great filmmaking? Not particularly.
Is it a fun way to spend a couple of hours? I thought so.
In the end, I found myself rooting for Ms. Barrymore to succeed. As a debut film, while Whip it is neither the Sex, Lies and Videotape of Steven Soderbergh, nor the Citizen Kane of Orson Welles, it is a fun and viable piece of filmmaking. With a better script, allowing her characters more depth in future projects, I have high hopes and look forward to her future work.
As a Blu-ray disc, Whip It does everything that one would expect from a current release. With quality image and uncompressed audio, Fox's Whip It is worth a rental.
RAH
You won't find a great deal of scripted depth of character here, but Page makes the character reasonably believable. I kept thinking that she must have served as a good and willing canvas for Barrymore's initial effort.
Is this earth-shakingly great filmmaking? Not particularly.
Is it a fun way to spend a couple of hours? I thought so.
In the end, I found myself rooting for Ms. Barrymore to succeed. As a debut film, while Whip it is neither the Sex, Lies and Videotape of Steven Soderbergh, nor the Citizen Kane of Orson Welles, it is a fun and viable piece of filmmaking. With a better script, allowing her characters more depth in future projects, I have high hopes and look forward to her future work.
As a Blu-ray disc, Whip It does everything that one would expect from a current release. With quality image and uncompressed audio, Fox's Whip It is worth a rental.
RAH
