This summer when I went to see "The Amazing Spiderman" and one of the trailers before the movie was for "Pitch Perfect." I knew about 15 seconds into the preview that I had to see this movie. Anna Kendrick + a cappella? Yes, please!
A few hours before I saw the movie a friend who'd gone to see it the night before said, "You're going to love it, it's like 'Bring It On' with a cappella instead of cheers." Well, "Bring It On" happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time (high brow taste, I know) so I was exponentially more excited.
"Pitch Perfect" stars Anna Kendrick as Beca, a college freshman chasing her dream to become a DJ. Her father, a professor at the college, tells her that if she gives her first year the "old college try" and really makes an effort, if she still doesn't love it, he'll help her move to L.A. to become a DJ.
To prove that she's taking his offer seriously, Beca auditions for the all female a cappella group on campus, the Barden Bellas. The Bellas are up tight, old fashioned and not interested in mash-up ideas. Even when she nails the intro rap to Blackstreet's "No Diggity" during an on campus a cappella contest.
The Bellas are made up of a strange mix of girls:
- Aubrey - the group's leader who foiled their plans to win the national championship the year before by vomiting on stage. She also uses dorky expressions like a ca-mazing or a ca-cuse me.
- Chloe - played by Brittany Snow with a red dye job, she convinces Aubrey that Beca should arrange their performance songs.
- Fat Amy - played by Rebel Wilson of "Bridesmaids" fame, Amy brings down the house with her killer pipes and suggestive dance moves.
- Stacie - the group's sex obsessed vixen.
- Lilly - the girl who speaks so quietly no one can hear her, but when she does speak she drops huge bombs like, "I set fires to feel joy."
- Cynthia - the group's soul diva with a fierce mohawk and a secret soft spot for her ex girlfriend.
The Bellas are not the only a cappella group on campus, in fact their chief rivals are the all male group, the Trebble Makers. You have to love these group names! One of the Trebbles, Jesse, winds up interning at the campus radio station with Beca and he actively pursues her.
Jesse, played by Skylar Astin, looks like a young Dane Cook. He is adorable and 100% supportive of Beca, even when she treats him like he's disposable. I loved watching him sing and swooned when he tried to give Beca a Hollywood movie education, starting with "The Breakfast Club."
At the close of the movie the Bellas and the Trebble Makers go head to head in the national a cappella competition. In a grand gesture to win back Jesse, Beca incorporates the famous song from "The Breakfast Club" into the Bellas' mash up! I wanted to throw my fist up in the air in solidarity!
Though the movie had its predictable moments and its lame jokes, I found myself laughing out loud throughout the entire movie, especially the scenes where the John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks played the announcers for the a cappella competitions. They had the best lines!
There is something about a cappella that just sucks you in. You were into it in college and you will be again when you see "Pitch Perfect." In fact, almost all the performance songs from the movie are available on the movie soundtrack. I also found this incredible list of all the songs featured in the movie. Every last one.
I left "Pitch Perfect" wanting to watch "The Breakfast Club" and humming David Guetta's "Titanium" for the next three days.
*All images courtesy of PitchPerfectMovie.com.
