In Bodeen, Texas, an indie-rock loving misfit Bliss finds a way of dealing with the pressure of her beauty pageant mother after she discovers a roller derby league in nearby Austin.
What I like about this movie is its classic theme set in a throughly fun, raw environment. It enters the sexy sport arena of the roller girls and takes the viewer for a super fun ride that has us cheering on our favorite indie actress (Juno's Ellen Page). All of the acting (with the exception of very creepy, greasy Landon Pigg as Page's love interest) is perched brilliantly on the edge of rather dramatic real people and just plain theatrical acting. Marcia Gay Harden (love that woman's eyebrows, by the way, I would say they're sexy, but she's not an especially sexy person) is a scene-stealing as Bliss' former Miss Austin or whatever beauty pageant-pushing steel magnolia mother. She made me nervous, which is perfect. She's not one of those characters you feel smug about when our heroine makes a stand for her desires in life. She was like my mother - I like rebelling as much as the next person, but that guilt of disappointing them still breathes inside me.
I'm a skater, so I love the scenes with the roller girls in action. I mean, what girl doesn't want to have a super cool nickname, dress super sexy and beat up on other girls while skating super fast around a rink? Seriously. It's awesome.
Drew Barrymore directed this, her first movie, and it was very good for her first movie. She has a funny supporting role as a girl frequently injured and who injures others. It's not exactly a chick flick, it's like a sporty chick flick, I guess. The only thing missing was that good love interest, but I guess, realistically, at 17, how good can love really be? The family and friendship love is the focus and it's good. See it.
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