Pitch Perfect (2012)

by: Lorena Sander

Elizabeth Banks, who produced and has a small role in Pitch Perfect, has an eye for projects that reveal the absurdities of certain cultural expressions, be it porn or, in this case, show choir.

Pitch Perfect is not a parody, nor is it a feel good movie about good looking people who also happen to be able to carry a tune. It is not a coming of age movie either, as the main conflicts are resolved by leaving the characters a bit wiser and more open, but not fundamentally changed. What the movie does remarkably well is examine what talent looks like when combined with a bad attitude, and the cult-like features of certain activities in a collegiate setting. The set pieces are engrossing, the music fun (if that is actually Anna Kendrick singing, another feather for her cap) and the one liners raunchy yet endearing. Rebel Wilson, who many will recognize as the roommate form hell in Bridesmaids keeps her character from being a caricature, possessing a gift for deadpan that will serve her well in the future.

Pitch Perfect is earnest in the best possible way – it makes its stakes the audience’s. While the story devotes little time to the rest of the vocal ensembles, their tensions and small victories are fun to watch, and the rather on the nose references to the 80s are entertaining.