Friday, August 2, 2013

Pitch Perfect: Fun, but Not For Everyone

Tonight, while my husband is away at Scout Camp, I finally got to watch "Pitch Perfect". I had to watch it alone, because (thankfully!) someone warned me that there are songs and dialogue that are rather adult in nature and I didn't want to be surprised with my kids next to me. 




















The story, as you probably know, unless you're an old lady like me and take forever to see popular movies, is about competitive college a cappella singing. Only it's better than it sounds. It sounds like a glorified "Glee" ripoff, but really the only thing they have in common is competitive geeky singing groups doing mashups of popular music. 

And gorgeous actors mixed with misfits. And brilliant harmonies. It's a lot better than "Glee".

Unlike "Glee", there are no sex scenes, but there are a lot of verbal references to sex and a whole medley of sexy contemporary songs. The movie is set on a college campus, after all. I won't be showing it to my kids, even though my 11-year-old daughter insists that all her friends have seen it. 

The best thing about the movie (besides the musical performances)? Seeing "Twilight"'s Anna Kendrick do something really great (not to mention the adorable Brittany Snow). The worst thing? Vomit. Twice. All over the stage. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!

The singing is amazing, the speedy pacing keeps the audience interested and there are more than a few laughs. Mostly quick quips and sight gags that you might miss if you aren't really listening, but some good stuff. There isn't a lot of deep character stuff, but in this case, that's a good thing. The atmosphere of the movie is light and fresh, and too much drama would have just bogged it down. (See: "Glee".)

I do think young adults who haven't already seen it will like this movie-- particularly band, drama or choir geeks. I doubt my husband would like it, though. It's not for everyone.

4 comments:

Danny Hicks said...

I'm glad you liked it. I don't like the vomit stuff either, but the movie cracks me up. I can't get enough of it.

I LOVE Anna Kendrick (let's just pretend she wasn't ever in "Twilight", shall we?). She's also brilliant in "Up in the Air" (which got her an Oscar nomination). She also has a Tony nomination under her belt. I can't WAIT to see her in "The Last 5 Years".

Steph said...

I also saw that she's going to be Cinderella in "Into the Woods"!

Anonymous said...

I've wanted to see that one, but I've gone back and forth. I LOVE the music for it. I think I'm definitely going to have to watch it sometime when they're at their dad's house.
My 11 yr. old and I have the same conversation. (I'd already been warned about some of the content, assumed some of it from the soundtrack, and seen a bit on YouTube. No way that I'd consider it age appropriate for her or her sister at this point!)
Thanks for the review as always!

Chris said...

I wrote a column years ago about how I was weary of vomit being so graphic so often in movies and I must say, squeamish as I am, this one was too much. Like Danny I love Anna Kendrick (not having see the "Twilights," I didn't know she was in those) and there was much here to enjoy, but those two vomit scenes — especially the second one, on the floor with the "wings" — were just too much for me. Whatayabet in the sequel (yes, it's coming) there will be even more vomit? Ugh.