Movie Review - Pitch Perfect

Pitch Perfect (2012)

Starring Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Skylar Astin, Anna Camp, Rebel Wilson, John Michael Higgins, and Elizabeth Banks

Directed by Jason Moore

I walked into Pitch Perfect hoping that it would do for a capella singing what Bring It On did for high school cheerleading -- a romp that pokes fun, but ultimately respects the extracurricular activity.  Unfortunately, while the collegiate-set musical comedy has some laughs (and is respectful of the music-based singing phenomenon), they're too few and far between and despite a nice performance from Anna Kendrick, there's a disappointing and bland story that never provides anything other than a "been there-done that" vibe.

We've got all the typical cliches we've come to know when it comes to a movie like this.  New girl in school -- in this case Kendrick's freshman Beca -- arrives on the scene and is "different" from others her age (we know this because she wears black nail polish and thinks everyone is too cookie cutter).  She meets the various stereotypes and then ends up joining an a capella group mainly because her father is worried that she's not fitting in.  Group competes in several competitions across the country leading up to "The Big One" in NYC in which Beca's group goes up against another a capella group from her same college which just so happens to feature the guy (Skylar Astin) who has been trying to get her to date him throughout the movie.

There's nothing new and exciting in the story and despite some laugh out loud moments, the story fails this movie in the end.  Granted, I realize I'm not the target audience for this -- some of the songs that I probably should have known were I a sixteen-year old girl whizzed in one ear and then right out the other without any recognition -- but the movie should've done something a little bit different in order to make it stand out from the typical teen flicks.

As mentioned above, Anna Kendrick is pretty darn good...definitely as good as you can get for a film like this and she's certainly a lovely singer.  [And it helps that she's easy on the eyes, but that's neither here nor there.]  In fact, the acting (and the singing), for the most part, is not too shabby.  However, this is only the second movie in which I've seen Rebel Wilson and her comedic schtick is already on my last nerve.  She provided some laughs, but her fifteen minutes of fame have reached their limit at this point unless she can change it up.

The RyMickey Rating:  C