Movie Info
Movie Name: Pitch Perfect
Studio: Relativity Media
Genre(s): Musical/Comedy/Romance
Release Date(s): September 28, 2012
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Break it down Barden Bellas!
Barden Bellas has a goal to be the first all women a cappella group to win the national championship. After a disastrous first attempt, Aubrey Posen (Anna Camp) and Chloe Beale (Brittany Snow) hope to rebuild the team with new recruits. Beca Mitchell (Anna Kendrick) attends under the eye of her father in the hopes that she can move to California to become a professional mixer. With Cynthia-Rose (Ester Dean), Stacie Conrad (Alexis Knapp), Lilly Onakuramara (Hana Mae Lee), and Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson), Beca is recruited to win…but changing the format might be necessary.
Directed by Jason Moore, Pitch Perfect became a massive hit and was well received by critics. The movie was based on the 2008 non-fiction book Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory by Mickey Rapkin. The soundtrack for the musical comedy also was the bestselling soundtrack of 2013.
I remember making vomit angels as a child
Pitch Perfect is a “chick flick”, but that doesn’t mean it is a bad movie. It is obviously aimed at women, but is also is an enjoyable comedy with a lot of laughs and a smart cast. As seen with this movie, the formula obviously worked.
The plot of the movie is one of those obvious competition plots. It is rather generic. The story has the lovable loser team banding together and learning from each other to become something better…it is an old story combined with an even older romance between Beca and Jesse (Skylar Astin). The romance is underplayed (which is a good thing), but I wish there could have been a few more twists (including making both squads win worthy…which the movie almost did).
Bitch, you know I’m the star here…
The movie really works with the cast. Anna Kendrick has proven herself in movies like her Oscar nominated turn in Up In the Air. Here she once again is enjoyable. She is overshadowed by the larger than life Rebel Wilson who received some critical acclaim as the shameless Fat Amy (aka Fat Patricia). The rest of the squad is also fun with the silent and creepy Lilly, the tough Cynthia-Rose, and the node suffering Chloe. The men in the film were likable, but also not the focus. I did find Adam DeVine annoying and distracting as the leader of the Treblemakers as he tried so hard to be Jack Black in voice and actions…even facial expressions. I felt he just was stealing his shtick. Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins appear as announcers for the competitions but after Bob Uecker in Major League and Fred Willard in Best in Show, it is impossible to be shocking or new for this type of announcer role.
A “chick flick” that won’t make you vomit…ok, maybe it will…
The music in a movie about singing is also very important. I’m not a huge fan of a cappella, but they did do a nice job of having fun mixes of songs. I am not the best at gauging singing because I can’t see how the Barden Bellas would have made it as far as they did with some boring performances.
Pitch Perfect is aimed at women but can be enjoyed by a wider audience. A great cast goes a long way to help a movie with a so-so plot. This is a good example of that. The film’s popularity has already inspired plans for a sequel scheduled for 2015.
