So, you read that right. Drew Barrymore (as in Tom Green’s ex/ex-Charlie’s Angels (2000) gal) is directing a movie called Whip It. While I’m not so sure I enjoy actors turning directors, the premise of this one sounds like it might be worth checking out.

Ellen Page (the “it” girl these days thanks to her breakout role in Juno) takes the lead as an indie-teen misfit who gets out of her humdrum existence and joins the lively world of roller derby. Yup, roller derby. You know, the knock-down-drag-out cat fight on wheels, which has apparently now evolved into an actual sport, rather than just a knock ‘em sock ‘em spectator vehicle for guys to watch.

This new world of roller derby seems to be as rough n’ tumble as it used to be, but now we’ve got people like Drew Barrymore and Juliette Lewis leading the pack, with rapper Eve and “SNL”s Kristen Wiig joining them on the track. Ah, the magic of movies.

But will Drew be able to bring this rather obscure – and frequently joked about -sport to viewers in a way that will make them at least try to take the film seriously? Or is she just trying for light-hearted comedy in an out-of-the-way location? Not sure yet.

If Ellen Page can bring the fans she brought to Juno, this one may actually turn out to have a decent opening. Whether or not that’s the case, it will be more interesting to see if Barrymore and pals will be able to keep the public buying tickets after any initial surge dies down.

While it looks like it could be decent, we’re a bit too wary at the moment to spend big bucks to find out, so we’ll probably wait for the DVD to see if Drew should confine herself to being in front of the camera rather than behind it.