“Pitch Perfect” is acca-awesome. This movie follows a collegiate a capella group as they accept new freshmen members and prepare for yet another season. However, it is not your typical-teen-girl movie. The message of the movie is not the talent of a capella, and what it is like realistically, but rather the transition teenagers are faced with when entering college.
Becca, played by Anna Kendrick, arrives at Barden University where she is thrown into a whole new environment. Her passion is DJ-ing, and her dream is to move to LA where she could produce her own music. However, her father, a professor at Barden, has a different plan lined up. He enrolls Becca at Barden and tells her that her passion is a hobby and that a solid education is much more important. With little-to-no motivation, Becca skates through her first month by skipping class and having minimal interaction with peers. Fed up and out of ideas, Becca’s father gives her an ultimatum. If Becca gives college a genuine chance and remains unhappy, she could move out to LA with her father’s full support. Ecstatic with this deal, she decides to audition for the women’s a capella group on campus, the Barden Bellas, because their second-in-command felt she had great potential. She has no idea what she gets herself into.
The group is weak from a disastrous ending at the national competition the previous year. Desperate to keep their reputation somewhat alive, the once very exclusive, vein, all girls group becomes open to any and all who are willing. The result is a mash-up of girls of all different shapes, sizes, colors, sexual orientations, and attitudes. Throughout their freshman year, these girls all try to fit in at Barden and find their place in the group itself. This movie is a comedy, a love story, and a life lesson that comments on a very specific time in a person’s life, and does so with wit and poise.
The underlying theme of fitting in at college was an adequate backdrop for this story to take its effect. Although Becca seems to be very comfortable in her own skin at the beginning of the movie, the narration does a very good job of revealing her insecurities and showing how they have the potential to work against her. By the end, Becca seems to have grown immensely while still being the individual that she was in the beginning. Even self-named “Fat Amy” played by Rebel Wilson, who appears to be the most confident person on campus, admits that her true name is actually Patricia over Bella bonding. The nature of the a capella group seems to be a standard of many on campus groups that are aimed at people who want to be included in group activities but have individual hobbies. As the Barden Bellas become closer and learn to trust and rely on one another, it reflects in their music. This shows that one’s individual strengths can help build up others as they incorporate each other into their own lives.
The uplifting nature of the film can be nostalgic for some who miss college days, but also makes the audience want to root for the Bellas as they move from an awkward and messy a capella group into a group of beautiful, independent young ladies who all have phenomenal voices. The score made the movie, hands down. Using modern, popular music was effective in creating a direct connection to present day youth. The level of performance of all the groups in the film set the bar high for a capella group across the country. In addition, the comedic performances from Rebel Wilson, Brittney Snow, and Elizabeth Banks created light points among serious scenes that actually produced giggles. The natural connection between Becca and her on-screen love also evokes heartwarming emotions for their new relationship and disappointment when they fight over Becca’s trust issues.
Overall, Pitch Perfect is an entertaining and relatively light film about finding oneself and making friends. Becca and her friends in the Barden Bellas transition to college and find a place where people who have similar interests as them can interact and learn from one another. They grow together as individuals and as a group over a year and become stronger because of it. The plot itself seems to be something new and fresh because it is not always predictable, and it is enhanced by popular new music sung by an all-star cast. The comedic points are actually funny and add to the film rather than take away from the plot. Pitch Perfect is a must-see, and the sequel will be much anticipated by thousands of young people, including myself.
