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| Ellen Page |
Welcome to Alternative to What: a weekly column that tries to find a great alternative to driving to the multiplexes. Based on releases of that week, the selections will either be thematically related or feature recurring cast and crew. The goal is to help you better understand the diversity of cinema and hopefully find you some favorites while saving a few bucks. At worse, this column will save you money. Expect each installment to come out on Fridays, unless specified.
THIS WEEK:
Whip It (2009)
- Alternative To -
If I Stay
On paper, this sounds like the worst kind of pairing that could be done for Alternative to What. What does a film in which Chloe Moretz has an "out of body" experience have to do with roller derby? If anything, Enter the Void has more in common (I won't recommend it because it's too surreal for most audiences). Well, this is one of the more "abstract" connections that I have done. From time to time, I will select titles on here that are relevant not to the actual themes, but to the talent involved. In t his case, I am looking directly at writer Shauna Cross, who provides the screenplay for both as well as the novel in which Whip It was based off of.
While it remains somewhat of a cult hit, Whip It is a story of a woman (Ellen Page) discovering the joy that is brought upon by roller derby. With a predominantly female-centric cast, the story follows her journey as she breaks away from her religious mother (Marcia Gay Harden) and adopts the Hurl Scouts as her new family. While the story is light on conflict, the enthusiasm is through the roof and provides one of the more endearingly happy films to be recommended here. It may play snarky at times, but that is only in benefiting the gloriously sassy and fun tone that the film has established.
A lot of it could be thanked to first time director Drew Barrymore. For reasons unknown, the actress decided to make this film and ended up creating one of the best girl power films in recent years. Featuring Kristen Wiig, Eve, Juliette Lewis, and Zoe Bell, the film features a lot of top notch female performers having a lot of fun. Adding in excellent shots of the actual roller derby scenes, this confectionary film is bubbling with life and features quite an eclectic soundtrack to back it up. The only question is why Barrymore hasn't made more films like this.
If there will be any detraction, it is that Ellen Page was still in the "Sassy Ellen Page" stereotyping days. For some reason, post-Juno didn't produce the greatest results, as she became pigeonholed as the sassy character who knew more than you. While I argue that this isn't true nor is it a problem, I can accept people who take offense to this. She has only grown and matured as an actress, choosing more challenging work that speaks more to her capable range. Even then, her free-formed candor is infectiously perfect here and allows her to have one last hurrah before graduating to more mature roles that nonetheless aren't nearly as popular nor are they as funny. This film is a great feel good film that manages to succeed simply on enthusiasm, which isn't a bad thing.
Also, it does seem apropos to associate the maturity of Page with the growing status of Chloe Moretz. While she is still a young star, she has her own set of typecasting problems. After Kick-Ass immortalized her as Hit Girl, she began to star in a string of franchise/horror films that tried to paint her as the creepy kid. Films like Let Me In, Dark Shadows and Carrie weren't necessarily the greatest, but she made the most of them and proved herself to be more than capable of making any film exciting. While her work in Hugo was solid, there seems to be some acceptance that she is going to be great if she keeps her head on straight.
I do feel like If I Stay falls into the camp of her trying to make a film that appeals to mass audiences by tearing away her "scary" persona that has been created over the years. This isn't a problem, though with an ambitiously all over the place resume, she does have quite a career ahead of her. Maybe a story about comatose love won't be a great alternative to a fun sports film, but at least there's a sense of women coming of age and doing something more profound with their lives. Even if this is just light teen fare, it does have some curious intent, notably with Cross penning both. What could she possibly bring to If I Stay?
BONUS!: Whip It also holds the honor of being the inspiration for the title of this column.
Also, it does seem apropos to associate the maturity of Page with the growing status of Chloe Moretz. While she is still a young star, she has her own set of typecasting problems. After Kick-Ass immortalized her as Hit Girl, she began to star in a string of franchise/horror films that tried to paint her as the creepy kid. Films like Let Me In, Dark Shadows and Carrie weren't necessarily the greatest, but she made the most of them and proved herself to be more than capable of making any film exciting. While her work in Hugo was solid, there seems to be some acceptance that she is going to be great if she keeps her head on straight.
I do feel like If I Stay falls into the camp of her trying to make a film that appeals to mass audiences by tearing away her "scary" persona that has been created over the years. This isn't a problem, though with an ambitiously all over the place resume, she does have quite a career ahead of her. Maybe a story about comatose love won't be a great alternative to a fun sports film, but at least there's a sense of women coming of age and doing something more profound with their lives. Even if this is just light teen fare, it does have some curious intent, notably with Cross penning both. What could she possibly bring to If I Stay?
BONUS!: Whip It also holds the honor of being the inspiration for the title of this column.
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