Short Take on "What's Your Number".

It's a shame that this movie begins with a joke that feels rehashed from the vastly superior Bridesmaids (people in the theater whispered it without realizing that both movies were probably in production at the same time) and kicks off its proceedings by wondering about the sexuality of a character played by Zachary Quinto (and on the week when he decides to come out!). Truth be told, all in all the film isn't any good, it feels like an episode of Sex and the City gone bad and it hides some disturbing chauvinism under the face of being who you are and defending your right to have sex with as many people as you want. The film still sells audiences the good old fashioned idea that finding "the one" is some sort of panacea that everyone should dream about! Even women who enjoy having sex can be rescued by the notion that out there there's someone willing to forgive them for their previous sluttiness and make honest beings out of them.

Why then, might this movie be worthy of even a minute of your time? Anna Faris. The way in which this woman puts herself through all sorts of incoherent episodes in the name of comedy makes her the ideal heir to a long tradition that features women like Mae West, Carole Lombard and Lucille Ball. Watching Faris' expressive eyes can sometimes deliver a funnier punchline than the words her character is given! Not to mention she even makes the endlessly dull Chris Evans seem funny (and with his shirt on!).

She crafts delightful chemistry with every actor in the film. Her scenes with Martin Freeman are hilarious, her encounters with real life husband Chris Pratt makes you wish they invited you to their home and entertained you with their humor and her moments with Joel McHale encompass the terrors of dating with such sweet sincerity that you can't help but fall for her.

Why hasn't anyone given Ms. Faris the movie she actually deserves?

Whip It ***

Director: Drew Barrymore
Cast: Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Daniel Stern, Juliette Lewis,
Kristen Wiig, Jimmy Fallon, Eve, Zoe Bell, Alia Shawkat
Drew Barrymore, Carlo Alban, Andrew Wilson
Landon Pigg, Ari Graynor

Very few modern actresses light the screen up like Drew Barrymore. Her adorable, quirky charm is the sort that makes almost everything she's in feel a lot sunnier, if not better, than it actually is.
It would've been almost impossible to imagine that she would be able to translate this feeling into her work behind the cameras, but in this, her directorial debut, she does just that.
You can almost see Barrymore's huge smile as she tells the story of Bliss Cavendar (Page) a seventeen year old girl living in Bodeen, Texas.
She spends her time working at a local fast food restaurant, that specializes in pork, and participating in beauty pageants to please her mom Brooke (Harden). Bliss hopes one day she'll be able to find her true calling and leave her small town.
One day while shopping in Austin she discovers roller derby. Perhaps the exact antithesis of everything her mom wants her to be, she secretly tries out for an underdog team called the Hurl Scouts and gets a spot with them.
But Bliss soon finds out that finding your own path, might affect the lives of others including her best friend Pash (Shawkat) and of course her family.
"Whip It" never tries to reinvent the wheel and if you've seen a couple of sports movies and teenage indie comedies you know how this one will go too.
What makes it delightful is Barrymore's ability to capture the energy and turn it into something akin to lightning in a jar.
Her characters, quirky as they be, aren't relegated to the usual freaks' hall-of-fame, but are adorable misfits that more often than not put a facade to fit into this world they're in.
There's Maggie Mayhem (the excellent Wiig) for example, a tough Amazon by night who has a sweet reason for ditching her teammates because her "man" waits for her at home every night.
Lewis' Iron Maven, is a ferocious player from the rival team, who has more to her than competitiveness. In one of the film's best scenes she turns out to be just a girl, who happens to be reckless on the field.
Even a character like Brooke who could've fallen into caricature is handled beautifully by the screenplay and Harden who gives her tiny flaws which she hides from her daughter (in order to protect her or just to preach?).
Page makes for a charming heroine, the actress stays within her limited range (angsty teenagers who use sarcasm to pull through) but makes Bliss something more than Juno on wheels.
Her scenes with Pigg who plays her rock interest-a hipster with a band-have a kind of innocent beauty to them that make an eventual turn actually feel painful.
Barrymore's film contains enough twee music and retro references to make anyone want to pull their hair out, but she is able to make everything work by looking at it as if it was for the first time.
Not even the "we came second!" spirit in "Whip It" is able to make it feel less liberating and enjoyable than it is, in fact its love for the underdog makes a statement.
While trying to tell a story about finding what you're good at, Barrymore has proven yet another thing she aced.