Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut turns out to be a very, very pleasant surprise indeed. When this film first turned up on my desk to review, my first thoughts about the little girl out of ET directing her first feature film were not great ones. I actually, hand on heart, thought this was going to be a bit of a lame duck. How wrong I was.
The story doesn’t help matters. What we have here is a coming of age movie about a small town girl who, unhappy with her current lot, discovers her true passion for life by taking part in a roller derby competition. Yes, that’s a roller derby, as in roller skating. Sounds riveting, right? Well before watching this film, I would have completely agreed with your lack of enthusiasm, especially with this seemingly ridiculous plotline, but all I can say is to give it a chance, it does grow on you.
Sure it has plenty of clichéd moments, and even now I still struggle that it features the little known sport of roller derby as its main angle, but all together it makes for a quirky mix. It has a very unique feel to it, and if you have ever seen the rather excellent Juno, then you will know exactly where I am coming from when I say it shares the same style of dry, weird humour.
The similarities to Juno don’t end there either, as both films feature the same lead actress, Canadian Ellen Page. Ellen is a star in the making, and for such a young actress to be commanding the performances she does in this film, you feel that she has a very bright future ahead of her. The rest of the cast are good too, with some memorable performances from Juliette Lewis, Andrew Wilson (brother of Owen) and Drew Barrymore herself, albeit with a small minor role.
Whilst I first feared that the story would be a big turn off, and it would quickly descend into chick flick territory, to Barrymore’s credit, the humour and intelligent handling of everyone’s roles make this more than watchable. This is a coming of age film with balls, and not the usual mushy romantic angle that you would have expected. The editing is quick and the film has a fast enough pace that allows you to get into the characters without boring you with meaningless dialogue.
This really is a stunning debut for Miss Barrymore in her first outing on the director’s seat, and whether you are a fan of her acting or not, you should really give this one some serious consideration. I still think the roller derby plot sounds ridiculous, mind you…
