The Demon of the Derby (2001)
Roller derby legend Ann Calvello, now in her 70s, refuses to give up the limelight. She is still bashing heads on the banked track of any upstart league that will have her and still acting like the bawdy bad girl of the Derby, even as she bags groceries at her part-time job at Safeway. In the two years the documentary follows her, Ann simultaneously grapples with her declining ability to skate and her determination to be the first professional athlete to have competed continuously in a sport for six decades.
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Just so...so bad
A Masterpiece!
The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Saw this movie and loved it. Its good to see a documentary about not only a legendary skater but about roller derby. Ann is ageless and has gone through some tough times since the long gone derby days,but is still tough herself and hasn't lost that magic that made her a skating legend. There are some memorable skating moments and some hilarious comments by Ann herself the movie. If you were a true derby fan when roller derby was in its heyday, it will spark some of those memories of a sport that unfortunately died out in the 1970's and people who weren't able go to live games or watch it on television, missed seeing not only one of the greatest ladies to skate in the game,but missed out on some wonderful sport of a sort entertainment!