World, Apr 10, 2010 (Pal Telegraph)-Drew Barrymore has insisted that her directorial debut Whip It - a coming-of-age comedy-drama about roller derby - is not just for girls. She criticised the studio for marketing it as a "roller derby movie" - the bruising all-female sport - rather than a general comedy-drama for both sexes.

She told the Mirror: "It was upsetting to have a studio put out, 'It's a roller derby movie'. I kept encouraging them to market to boys and men, because there was a sports element and when I go to roller derby games there are a lot of males. They love the sexiness, the raunchiness and the fun-ness of these girls beating the crap out of each other."

The film stars Ellen Page as a frustrated teen who find acceptance playing for her nearby roller derby team.

She added: "I'm a woman so I'm going to make stories about women because I understand them, but I'm also a boy and I can't stand the term 'chick flick'. That turns me off. I'm as turned off by that as any guy because I am a 'dude'.

"I have a very male mentality. The comedy in the film is not little girl comedy. It's boy comedy, it's androgynous comedy."

(Agencies)