Director:
Jason Moore
Cast:
Anna Kendrick
Rebel Wilson
Brittany Snow
Skylar Astin
Rated: PG-13
Never imagined there could be a cappella battles but this movie proved me wrong.
“Pitch Perfect” is a comedy centering on a college music group called the Bellas, an all female a cappella group that is trying to win a championship. Anna Kendrick plays a freshman college student named Beca, whose main focus is being a DJ however she has the ability to sing real well too. This is discovered by the head of the Bellas, Aubrey, played by Anna Camp, who recruits Beca into the group.
The film’s plot takes place over the school year and shows the Bellas compete with their on-campus rival all male a cappella group the Treble Makers. Things become a little more complicated when Beca begins feeling a romantic connection with on of the new Treble Makers, Jesse played by Atin.
The plot of “Pitch Perfect” is in the vein of “Bring it On.” The film is very predictable and the story is razor thin in depth. Despite this, the movie is actually quite strong because of the rather witty and smart writing. Many of the jokes and gags written for the film are very funny and gives the film a lot of watchability.
The Bella group is sort of the classic misfit team, and fortunately, the cast really delivers for it. Rebel Wilson, who played Fat Amy, had a lot of witty dialogue.
Usually Wilson is just given a more minor role with weaker written comedy, however she really has great stuff written for her in this role and she runs with it. It’s not a one star show, though, as all of the Bellas have their own quirks and their characters stay consistent with them throughout the film.
Anna Kendrick’s character was the most underwhelming out of the group. Not that she was bad, however her sub plots, one to do with her love interest and the other her struggling relationship with her father, just feel really weak compared to the main story of the Bellas where the film gets most of its humor.
The significant issue with those subplots related to Kendrick’s character is how predictable the drama is. The audience can pick up fairly easily how they will get resolved.
With that said, Kendrick herself still delivered a solid performance and she has a great deal of camaraderie with her team.
“Pitch Perfect” has a lot of good humor and delivers on the laughs. Even with some of those mentioned sub plots that were a bit bland, it’s still a strong movie. 4 out of 5.
Matthew Liedke on Film 