(9) WHIP IT with Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore, Alia Shawkat, Marcia Gay Harden, Daniel Stern, Eve, Juliette Lewis and Andrew Wilson. Directed by Drew Barrymore.

DREW Barrymore has only directed one other movie before – Choose or Lose Presents: The Best Place to Start in 2004 – a movie I had never even heard of before – but Whip It truly marks a breakthrough in her talent as a director. The story follows the life of a Texas high school pupil, Bliss Cavender (Ellen Page), whose mother (Marcia Gay Harden) is obsessed with her daughter being a beauty queen – as is the case with many of the young women living in the Lone Star state.

Fed up with being forced through the monotony of every pageant, with the help of her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat), she streaks her hair blue for one pageant ... shocking the judges and infuriating her mom.

By chance, while out shopping with her mom she sees three punk-looking, tattooed women on rollerskates, come into the store to take posters that are placed on the counter. On the posters is Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis) in action in a roller derby.

Then, in the spirit of adventure Pash and Bliss set out to Austin to watch the derby under false pretences: they tell their parents that they are going to support the football team.

At the derby, the girls see that the sport is quite rough.

Two opposing teams skate around a track-like elevation – like the one that cyclists practise on at stadiums in South Africa.

Two representatives from each team have to then overtake the girls who are skating up front ... sometimes using brutal force to do so.

Bliss tries out, makes it and leaves pageant life behind. In the process she ends up living a double life and lying to her parents.

Page, like her role in Juno (2007), excels in her role as the rebellious daughter.

And Barrymore seems to absolutely enjoy her role as Smashley Simpson.

Her role as the girl who loves to playfully fight accepts violence as a part of her nature provides great comic relief.

Also, to see Daniel Stern in the role of Bliss’s father, all calm and collected, is quite a change from his usual “goofball” roles.

On the whole, the film is a heartfelt, original story that is a bit of a tearjerker in some parts. It is based on a novel by Shauna Cross.

Drew Barrymore has already been nominated for the Bronze Horse award at the Stockholm film festival. And with this latest arrival there may surely be more nominations (and awards) to come. – Reviewed by Giselle Horner. hornerg@avusa.co.za