Pitch Perfect (2012)

December 4, 2012March 1, 2013 Dave Adam DeVine, Alexis Knapp, Anna Camp, Anna Kendrick, Ben Platt, Brittany Snow, Brock Kelly, Cameron Deane Stewart, Caroline Fourmy, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, David Del Rio, Elizabeth Banks, Ester Dean, Freddie Stroma, Hanna Mae Lee, Jacob Wysocki, Jason Moore, Jawan Harris, Jinhee Joung, John Benjamin Hickey, John Michael Higgins, Karan Gonzalez, Kay Cannon, Kelley Jackle, Kether Donohue, Mickey Rapkin, Nicole Lovince, Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect Review, Rebel Wilson, Shelley Regner, Skylar Astin, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Wanatah Walmsley

Summary: Beca (Kendrick) is that girl who’d rather listen to what’s coming out of her headphones than what’s coming out of you. Arriving at her new college, she finds herself not right for any clique but somehow is muscled into one that she never would have picked on her own: alongside mean girls, sweet girls and weird girls whose only thing in common is how good they sound when they sing together.

Year: 2012

Australian Cinema Release Date: 6th December, 2012

Australian DVD Release Date: N/A

Country: United States

Director: Jason Moore

Screenwriter: Kay Cannon, Mickey Rapkin (book)

Cast: Utkarsh Ambudkar (Donald), Skylar Astin (Jesse), Elizabeth Banks (Gail), Anna Camp (Aubrey), Ester Dean (Cynthia Rose), David Del Rio (Kolio), Adam DeVine (Bumper), Kether Donohue (Alice), Caroline Fourmy (Mary Elise), Karan Gonzalez (Barb), Jawan Harris (Timothy), John Benjamin Hickey (Dr. Mitchell), John Michael Higgins (John), Kelley Jakle (Jessica), Jinhee Joung (Kimmy Jin), Brock Kelly (Howie), Anna Kendrick (Becca), Alexis Knapp (Stacie), Hanna Mae Lee (Lilly), Nicole Lovince (Kori), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Tommy), Ben Platt (Benji), Shelley Regner (Ashley), Brittany Snow (Chloe), Cameon Deane Stewart (Tom), Freddie Stroma (Luke), Wanetah Walmsley (Denise), Rebel Wilson (Fat Amy), Jacob Wysocki (Justin)

Runtime: 112 mins

Classification: M

Dave Griffiths’s ‘Pitch Perfect’ Review:

Just as a book shouldn’t be judged by its cover, likewise a film should never be judged by its trailer. Take a look at the trailer for ‘Pitch Perfect’ and you’ll probably be thinking that this is a film based at teenage girls who think that ‘Glee’ is quality television… what you won’t realise is that ‘Pitch Perfect’ is a fairly decently written comedy with a kick ass soundtrack.

Based on a non-fiction book by Mickey Rapkin ‘Pitch Perfect’ sees Becca (Anna Kendrick – End Of Watch, The Company You Keep) soon find herself part of the College a cappella music scene. The career driven Beca doesn’t even want to be a college, she has her future mapped out ahead of her she is going to be a DJ and a music producer, but despite her obvious talents her father forces her to attend Barden University.

In a bid to show her father that she is in fact fitting into the school she reluctantly decides to join the Barden Bellas, a singing group that have been a massive failure over the year, especially due to an on-stage ‘spewing incident’. Rubbing salt into their wounds is the fact that their rivals The Treble Makers are from their school and find regular success. The Barden Bellas’ leaders, Aubrey (Anna Camp – TV’S The Good Wife & The Mindy Project) and Chloe (Brittany Snow – Petunia, 96 Minutes) are tired of their group constantly finishing second so start a massive recruiting drive that sees the likes of Becca and Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson – Ice Age: Continental Drift, What To Expect When You’re Expecting) joining the ranks.

With their rag-tag team of singers coming from all walks of life Aubrey and Chloe know they have their work cut out for them, but that job is made even harder when their members keep breaking the rules and fraternize with the opposition, even Becca isn’t immune when she finds herself attracted to Jesse (Skylar Astin – Wreck It Ralph, TV’S House) who is one of the newer Treble Makers.

Surprisingly ‘Pitch Perfect’ doesn’t fall into the same traps that so many of these type of films do. While ‘Step Up’ falls when it introduces lackluster storylines and character clichés, ‘Pitch Perfect’ does the opposite. Here screenwriter Kay Cannon has blessed the film with interesting characters and given them some fabulous one liners that makes sure the film never dips. In fact so interesting are the characters that you find yourself caring for a quite a few of them.

One of the weaknesses however in Cannon’s writing is that the male characters seem to lack a lot of the spark that the female characters have. The male characters all seem to be there to be the ‘bad guy’ and while film geek Jesse is shown in a different light even his character isn’t strong enough for Sylar Astin to go anywhere near being a good leading man.

The main winners when it comes to ‘Pitch Perfect’ are Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson. Wilson shines when she is given some great moments of ad-libbing (a very funny Tasmanian joke should have Australians laughing) while Kendrick shows the world that she can also sing, and of course there are no questions being asked about her acting since her Oscar nomination… rightfully so.

‘Pitch Perfect’ is good enough that if your kids want to see it you certainly won’t be bored as they watch it, be warned though some of the humor is very adult orientated.

Other ‘Pitch Perfect’ Reviews By Dave Griffiths: http://www.helium.com/items/2397718-pitch-perfect-movie-review

Rating: 3/5 Stars

IMDB Rating: