Pitch Perfect | Review
In this ‘High School Musical’ and ‘Glee’ era musicals have sky-rocketed. The genre is not known for its heavy plotting and interesting characters. It’s more known for, if done correctly, its endearing fun and energy. Jason Moore’s directorial debut, ‘Pitch Perfect’, is yet another musical, but it adds a slight twist to the genre by being solely a cappella.
Anna Kendrick (’50/50′ & ‘Twilight’) stars in this female-centric cast as Beca, an aspiring DJ who’s forced to attend college by her father as part of a deal: if she spends one year in college and still decides she doesn’t like it, he’ll support her move to LA to jumpstart her DJ career. A music junkie, Beca auditions for The Bella’s, one of four a cappella groups in her university (seriously, four). Her brash personality clashes with the group’s perfectionist leader, Aubrey (Anna Camp), however it’s decided The Bella’s need Beca’s talent and creativity in order to defeat their school rival, The Treble Makers, the reining national champions.
The Treble Makers is an elitist all-male group whose biggest star is their obnoxious leader Bumper (‘Workaholic’s’ Adam DeVine). His upbeat energy and constant smack talk matches that of The Bella’s, and his schtick could have been way over-the-top and annoying but it never really feels that way because DeVine’s character is never truly despicable. He adds fuel to the flame of the groups’ heated rivalry but respects it. The other major Treble Maker is Jesse (Skylar Astin), a new member and also friend and love interest of Beca’s.
The Bella’s has an assortment of characters: co-leader Chloe (Brittany Snow), sex-addict Stacie (Alexis Knapp), lesbian Cynthia-Rose (singer-songwriter Ester Dean), and the token-Asian Lilly (Hana Mae Lee). The most memorable member, though, is Rebel Wilson’s Fat Amy. Wilson’s deadpan delivery and humor from ‘Bridesmaids‘ returns in this film, but better. Some of the jokes in ‘Pitch Perfect’ are hit and miss, but whenever Wilson speaks it’s a laugh fest. From the marketing it seemed like Rebel Wilson’s role would only resort to fat jokes, but thankfully the film avoids over-using them. There are a few horribly funny fat jokes revolving around Fat Amy but the majority of the laughs just come from her sense of humor, not her weight.
A fairly predictable plot runs through ‘Pitch Perfect’ that involves constant head-butting between Aubrey and Beca, competing in regionals (‘Glee’ style), an up-and-down romance between rivaling members, and people fighting and quitting, only to make up in the end. There are also references to John Hughes’ ‘The Breakfast Club’, a film that Jesse says has the best ending of all time.
The predictability of the film is matched by its fun and likable characters and its riveting musical selection. The songs covered range from quite a few decades. Plus there are countless mash-ups performed in the film that are actually pretty good. I’m a sucker for nice mash-ups! The final performance of the film features a massive mash-up of five songs! Five! It feels a little too much, but at the same time it’s too fun to care.
‘Pitch Perfect’ is not a film for everyone. Those who dislike the ‘High School Musical’ and ‘Glee’ phenomenon will surely write off this film as another copy. However, if you’re willing to sit back and relax, avoid judging the film too seriously, you’ll enjoy it for everything it’s worth.
Three out of four Kent's.
Extra Notes:
Why do Asians always have to be the weird ones in movies? Hana Mae Lee’s character speaks really low to where no one can hear her. How did she get in the group?
Elizabeth Banks and Christopher Mintz-Plasse have small roles in the film as well!
‘Pitch Perfect’ was filmed at Louisiana State University!
