SPINNING THEIR WHEELS Barrymore and Page fight the power.

Barrymore’s directorial debut approaches utterly formulaic material with conviction, verve and maybe a touch of class. (As a colleague remarked, it doesn’t even condescend to Texas.) But there’s only so much you can do with this script, and Whip It does raise the question of whether froth served well is still worth digesting. Page plays Bliss, the high-school pixie prepping for the beauty contest that is, as far as her mother (Harden) is concerned, the entire purpose of her life. (Note to self: Movie moms are always insensitive to their daughters’ actual wishes.) Smitten one night while playing hooky, Bliss joins a roller-derby team, despite the fact that she’s underage. (What third-act complication could this possibly lead to?) She meets the boy of her dreams, who likes her in return, up to a point. (Rocker boyfriends always turn out to be philandering douche bags.)

Giving her film an easygoing girl-power message, Barrymore fills out the periphery with a likable supporting cast, including Wiig, Barrymore herself, stunt genius Bell and Lewis. (Where has she been?) It’s also hard to quarrel with Page, the one element of Juno that hasn’t yet jumped the shark. But Whip It doesn’t leave you with much, except maybe the sensation that you’ve been taken for a ride around the track. (For more on Barrymore, click here.)

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