"Nothing makes a woman feel more like a girl than a man who sings like a boy."
Pitch Perfect (2012) is the latest in the raunchy for-girls comedies that has recently followed Bridesmaids (2011). The story revolves around "alternative" girl Beca, who wants nothing more than to drop out of college and DJ in Los Angeles, as she enters her first year at Barden University where she surprisingly gets wrapped up into the unique world of singing a capella teams on campus. This may sound like a heartwarming drama but it's actually a very raunchy comedy and a modern and new take on the musical.
The comedy in this film is really good. Some jokes are overplayed and some are even too "punny" even for a pun-lover like myself but for the most part the jokes hit the mark more often than not and I found myself constantly laughing out loud at the jokes, situations and humor in this film.
I also enjoyed the references to and subplot involving The Breakfast Club (1985) even if it's kind of predicable I thought it was included kind of nicely and added a cool layer to the film.
Personally I really like Anna Kendrick but I do not think she was cast well for this part at all. Beca is really just a poorly written chalk-line of a fictional character to begin with, but she doesn't even fit that! She passes, it didn't ruin the movie for me and wasn't horrible in my opinion but she really doesn't fit any kind of a bad ass, rebel, dysfunctional girl at all. Seems like a weird combination of bad writing and horrible casting all in one.
The drama in the film, though I appreciate the effort, seems kinda half-assed and doesn't really ever pay off. Namely the whole deal with Beca's dad, Beca's fight with the love interest Jesse. And some of the things really don't come across like they're intended, like every scene with Jesse's roommate, the leader of the Treble-maker's dropping out at the last second and I could have done completely without the quiet Asian girl who turns out to be this awesome beatboxer...?
And lastly there's a couple of really nasty scenes including vomit, that really kind of stick out as things they put in the film just because they could and because there's not enough dirty chick flicks. But Bridesmaids worked it in naturally, the gross parts in this film seem very fake and arbitrary.
The soundtrack in this film is really magnificent, I really enjoyed the wide range of songs used not only in the a capella songs but also in the between moments in the film, I actually wish the soundtrack had some of the other songs in the film besides the a capella
But the one reason above all the others to see this film is Rebel Wilson as Fat Amy. You may remember Rebel from her small but memorable role in Bridesmaids where she was a roommate (kind of) to Kristen Wiig, and she was actually my number one concern going into this film. The trailer made it seem like she was going to be this annoying side character with stupid lines, but I'm very happy to say that she's actually the very memorable side character with all the lines that really make the movie! There's jokes that are over used in this film and then when she gets a crack at it and puts her own spin on it and suddenly they're funny again! Fat Amy is a such a memorable and really hilarious role, it's not often a side character alone makes the movie worth the price of admission.
Pitch Perfect (2012) is one of those rare films where technically there's a lot wrong with it and this and that could have been done better, but this didn't actually bother me that much and I still found the film super enjoyable and entertaining, which at the end of the day is all that matters. 4/5 Stars.
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