Nine years ago, my girlfriends and I went along to see Drew Barrymore karate chop her way through Charlie’s Angels. We flew out of the cinema on a teenage girl-power high – in fact, I think my friend actually attempted to slide across the bonnet of her car in the parking lot.

Last week I returned to the cinema to see Barrymore again, this time in her directorial debut Whip It!, which focuses on the high-octane world of female roller derby. I’m pleased to say that I left the cinema with a similar buzz.  While the film is slightly naff in parts and it’s not breaking any new ground, it’s a helluva lot of fun.

Whip It! tells the story of young Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page), a 17-year-old ‘indie’ chick who is bucking against her mother and the pressure to become a beauty queen in her hometown of Bodine, Texas.

Bliss and her friend Pash (played by Alia Shawkat … aka Maeby Fünke from Arrested Development) stumble across a roller derby event in Austin, and Bliss becomes hooked on the idea of joining the Hurl Scouts, a smashing bunch of ladies fleshed out by the likes of Smashley Simpson (Barrymore), Bloody Holly (Zoe Bell) and Rosa Sparks (Eve).

Kristen Wigg, who has been so excellent in Saturday Night Live, Knocked-Up and Adventureland is also a standout of the group playing mother-figure Maggie Mayhem. She's fast becoming one of my favourite comedic actors.

In the 111 minutes that follow, young Bliss gets a whipping of the emotional and physical variety, at the hands of a her fierce competitor Iron Maven (played by the ever-wonderful Juliet Lewis), her friends, family and a swaggery rock god named Oliver. 

It's this love story between Page and Oliver that causes some of the most cringe-inducing moments of the film. Barrymore has obviously witnessed the frenzy that a teen romance starring alt/emo characters can cause (thank you, Twilight), and my guess is she's attempting to emulate some of that hysteria here with frolics in hay fields and underwater pash sessions. As a jaded adult it’s a little painful to watch, but teenage girls will probably go bananas for it.

When you’ve been in Hollywood for as long as Barrymore has, you’ve most likely developed a hefty Filofax full of industry contacts. This film has clearly benefited from Barrymore’s extended network - the cast is incredibly strong, and there are numerous celeb cameos (Har Mar Superstar plays a rival coach, while late night TV star Jimmy Fallon appears as greasy MC Hot Tub Johnny). Everyone involved seems to be having an awful lot of fun making the movie with Barrymore, and this jubilance spills from the screen.

The energetic performances are complemented by a high-octane soundtrack (featuring Melbourne’s very own Gotye) and the action scenes make you want to hunt out your sparkle skates and beef up your black eyeliner.

There’s a lot to like about this film. The leading lady is young, but she’s tough. The romances don’t always have a fairytale ending and the storylines aren’t all sunnily resolved in typical Hollywood style. Most admirably, the girls don’t cry when they get slogged in the guts. And for that, we give Whip It! a high five.

Whip It! opens in cinemas tomorrow, Thursday, October 8.
You can view the Whip It! movie trailer here on TheVine.