'Whip It' (PG-13)(out of four)

There's something refreshing about "Whip It." Like a dollop of dessert topping, it's a sweet story, and with the help of an earnest cast and an A-list Hollywood star making her directorial debut, the film has soul yet never skimps on action.

Director Drew Barrymore, who also has a sizeable role, allows the story of a small-town Texas girl who finds her footing after joining a women's roller derby, to unspool at its own pace. With its independent-film feel, "Whip It" captures the essence of its characters while still delivering some nail-biting skating bouts. The film is based on the novel "Derby Girl," an autobiographical account by Shauna Cross, who also wrote the script for the movie.

Seventeen-year-old Bliss Cavender (Ellen Page) is having a difficult time unleashing herself from the grips of her mother (Marcia Gay Harden), whose means of escape from her mail delivery job is entering her daughter in beauty queen pageants. Bliss spends her days loathing high school and working as a waitress at a roadside barbecue restaurant. Her best friend Pash ( Alia Shawkat of "Arrested Development") hates the town of Bodeen, Texas, as much as Bliss, and the two wait for graduation day when they can finally break free.

But Bliss finds a life outside of Bodeen when she discovers a women's roller derby match in Austin. She digs her Barbie skates out of an attic trunk to try out for the team. After lying about her age, she becomes a full-fledged member of the Hurl Scouts, the Austin derby's underdogs who've never won a match. Of course, Bliss, in her new role as Babe Ruthless, is the rookie hopeful that can change all that.

Barrymore has assembled a smart cast that run the gamut from "Saturday Night Live's" Kristen Wiig, who takes a serious turn at times as fellow Hurl Scout Maggie Mayhem, to the always funky Juliette Lewis as Bliss's nemesis on the rink, Iron Maven.

Barrymore, who cast herself in the role of stoner derby girl Smashley Simpson, gets a chance to sport a bloody nose, make tough chick faces, and body surf the crowd. Jimmy Fallon, showing more talent than in his role as late-night talk show host, is rink announcer "Hot Tub," who emits genuine excitement as he calls the play by play of the derby.

Yet it's the ultra serious Page who, in abandoning her "Juno" persona, keeps Bliss at the center of the film's universe with a soulful performance that's artful, yet honest.

"Whip It" isn't perfect -- a food fight scene is particularly juvenile, and an underwater makeout scene between Bliss and her rocker boyfriend drags on -- but when you push aside its dark eyeliner, "Whip It's" bruises are truly genuine.