Hanna Flint
If you’ve marked ”Pitch Perfect” as a feature length version of ”Glee” then it’s time to changed the record, because this college comedy will definitely be more in tune with your funny bone than it’s TV rival.
Following three competing a cappella groups at the fictional Barden University, Pitch Perfect focuses on Beca (Oscar and Tony-nominated actress Anna Kendrick of ”Up in the Air”, ”The Twilight Saga”) an aspiring DJ who’d rather be in LA breaking into the music industry than taking classes or joining college clubs. But it wouldn’t be much of a movie if Beca wasn’t coerced into joining one of these voice-only groups and so her story becomes intertwined with the mean, sweet and weird girls of the Barden Bellas; the all-female a cappella group having to rebuild their status after disaster struck in the previous year’s competition finals.
Their main rivalry comes from all-male former champions and fellow Bardenites The Treblemakers, whose arrogant yet euphonious performances, led by Workaholics’s Adam Devine, keep the out-dated Bellas firmly in their musical shadow.
The only way the girls can hope to beat the guys is if group leader Aubrey allows the group to break out of its musical monotony with some 21st century mash ups. And like Obe Won Kenobe, Beca is their only hope.
Just like ”Superbad” and ”Mean Girls”, ”Pitch Perfect” has an excellent script to that had myself (and the rest of the cinema) laughing long past the punch-line of each joke. But with Kay Canyon penning the screenplay this is hardly a surprise. From the cutting competition commentary offered by Elizabeth Bank and John Michael Higgins, to the barely audible yet sinister whispers of Lilly (Hana Mae Lee), the Emmy-nominated writer and producer of ”30 Rock” and ”New Girl” captures the eccentricities of each character brilliantly.
Anna Kendrick provides another high five performance, championing those intelligent, pretty and witty actresses changing the face of the female lead (see Emma Stone, Kristen Wiig). And as her love interest Jesse, Skyler Astin is just as pleasing to watch, channelling the quirky coolness that John Cusack trademarked 30 years earlier.
But the heavyweight (pardon the pun) performance comes from the awesome Rebel Wilson, whose blunt one-liners and rugged routines as Fat “I call myself Fat Amy so that Twig Bitches like you don’t say it behind my back” Amy, begs the question: when will this comedienne get a lead role of her own?
A brilliant effort by producing pair Elizabeth Banks and her husband Max Handelman for turning Mickey Rapkin’s book “Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory” into the comedic swansong of the 2012 film calendar.
Extras : (Unpreviewed)
