Pitch Perfect Review!
This is a film that you could take one look at and dismiss easily…The posters, the trailer, the presentation - everything screams "crappy teen movie." Fortunately, this film is quite a bit smarter than that. This ain't no teen movie, this here is a college movie. A great taste in music music and fantastic humor writing do their best to save this film from its unfortunate flaws.
Acting
This film has the same pratfall as most college movies…None of the actors look like they're even close to being college freshmen. I'm in college. I was a freshmen and I see freshmen running around everyday. Who are they trying to fool? However, I will admit the acting was actually not terrible. This is usually the kind of movie that you take one look at the poster and can accurately guess it will completely forsake acting talent for musical talent but the acting was actually fairly solid. It was solid but in no way remarkable. I think the actors were decently talented but really were held back by poor development from writing that focuses a little too much on the comedy and not enough on character. The cast nails the humor perfectly, and the singing as well, but any acting based around character development is lacking.
Music
It is difficult to remark on the music of a film that is centered around music yet is not a musical. The music choices were mostly typical modern pop pieces but gained a flair for older songs as the film went on. There was a clear progression towards more diverse and complex remixed music. I think that there was a concious statement being made: every era has good music to use and play with but you need to play. This was…well done. Every song in the soundtrack was a-cappella, which was all arranged and sung with talent. Songs ranged from "Turn the Beat Around" and "Let's Talk About Sex" to "Don't You Forget About Me" and "Price Tag." And, yes, before you ask, I did sing along when Salt-N-Pepa came on. I am proud of this. The music choices were diverse and well thought out. The whole soundtrack feels like a love letter to teen movies' past in the best way possible.
Cinematography
The setting switches between dorms and stages and the camera has a distinct style for each. The dorms have a much more static, shot-reverse-shot type of mechanic that fits well. These are mundane, everyday life scenes, and the cinematography matches to great effect. These scenes act as a foil to the glamourous sweeping shots of the a-cappella competitions. Performances are given a sense of grandeur and glitter by having much more complex camera movement. This juxtaposition really highlights the fact that these kids (I use the term loosely) really live for the stage and for performing. For the most part, it was very coherent too: these camera themes held throughout the film and the stage-scenes only got more grand as the film progressed. The only scene that really stuck out as a sore thumb was a scene towards the end of the film: Beca confronts her father in his house. The cinematography is awkwardly dynamic. I understand that the house was a new space to explore but it seemed to have too much camera movement for a non-stage scene which ruined the coherence of the cinematography and, personally, ruined my immersion in the film.
Plot and Writing
The plot is as basic and as predictable as can be. The character development is limited and Anna Kendrick (Beca) does better than I would expect, yet is still fairly lackluster. Sadly, she can't be Stacey Pilgrim every time. The one brilliant saving grace for the writing is the humor. While some of it is cheesy "a-ca-jokes" I was blown away by the fantastic jokes and one-liners, usually coming from Fat Amy. Most modern comedy films like to have some humorous element of the grotesque, and I mean that descriptively not as an insult, but rarely does it actually work. Here, Fat Amy makes the statement that the writers were totally aware of this and played to the strengths of this character. She openly refers to herself as Fat Amy, if that is any indication. The "best beat-boxer in Tasmania" is the sole driving force that keeps the film interesting and funny when it, honestly, does not have much else going for it. Rebel Wilson (Amy) just has flawless delivery and really brings out the best the writers had to offer. If only the writing was able to balance the more serious moments better, this would be a very different film.
Overall
Great music and great humor but the film did suffer from lack luster acting and writing. I really (really) liked that the film actually had a message greater than itself: it is ok to play with music. If you play, you will explore and will find new and great ways to create something worthwhile. Beca's whole DJ subplot combined with this greater message seems directed right at remix culture, whispering, "dude, keep mixing!" And, well, I am a big fan of that.
Favorite Moment?
Generally, I loved every line from Fat Amy. Rebel Wilson is fantastic and the film is worth a watch just for her flawless timing and delivery.
Bumper: "I have a feeling we should kiss. Is that a good feeling or an incorrect feeling?"
Fat Amy: "Well... sometimes I have the feeling I can do crystal meth, but then I think, mmmmm... better not."
No comments:
Post a Comment