Weekend Round Up – What no SNOW? Pitch Perfect Review

This weekend in UK we were all waiting for Winter to finally arrive. OK it has been cold, but also blooming wet. You should see the field in which I take the dog for her walks, we are talking Swamp Land not Farm Land. But this weekend the big FREEZE was supposed to happen. We all waited, got out sleds out of the garage and got warm clothes on. IN fact my eldest went to bed last night with her fingers, toes, legs and arms crossed hoping for a SNOW day.

Did it arrive? Did it heck!!

A light dusting they called it on the news… BIG deal. Having said that, there was still panic on the news when it came to travel. The UK sucks at winter. When will we realize that it comes every year and we should be ready. But every year the first snow causes chaos across the country. Ah well, that is what makes us British I suppose.

When it comes to film watching this weekend, it has been pretty good. Firstly we saw Pitch Perfect, a film I really didn’t want to go and see, but it was my wife’s turn to pick, and much like Les Misérables I was pleasantly surprised (review below). Sunday we stayed in as a family and watched Ice Age Continental Drift, which is charming and the girls loved to see Scrat and gang back in action. Last night we stuck on Seeking a Friend for the End of The World. I know a lot of you didn’t like this film, but I actually enjoyed it and thought Knightley a girl who I usually hate in everything did a pretty good job.

Anyway here is my review of the hilarious Pitch Perfect…

Pitch Perfect (2012)

I feel like I keep apologizing, I mean last week I saw Les Mis and had to admit to not watching musicals, and this week I have seen Pitch Perfect and again I have to apologize for not liking GLEE. But even though the similarities are there, this and the long running TV Show are very different. Pitch Perfect has a sense of self-awareness and is not afraid to make fun of itself, and of course it is about ACAPELLA, so not backing music, which adds another skill level.

The film follows Beca, played Anna Kendrick, a girl who is an aspiring DJ but her father, a college professor wants her to try out college before jetting off to follow her dream.

Beca is overheard singing in the shower and is very awkwardly recruited into the college’s all-lady acapella group, The Barden Belles. The Belles are old-fashioned and have strict rules, one of which is NOT hooking up with any of the rival All boy group The Treble Makers.

Pitch Perfect is anything but original. But this is not a bad thing. It is a simple underdog story that we have seen a hundred times before, but it is well written and has a good ensemble cast that al hold their own throughout the duration of the film. It is pretty obvious from the get go what the end product will be, but it is not important, the way we get there, the journey is what makes this film work so well.

The characters in the film are well crafted and likable. It is nice to see Kendrick get a leading role, even though this isn’t as meaty as I know she can handle it does prove that she has incredible range when it comes to acting, I predict a bright future for her. The other stand out is the love-her-or-hate-her Rebel Wilson who plays Fat Amy, she has some really laugh out loud moments backed up by a very funny pretty much all female cast.

As the story is base din College not high school the humour is a little more adult but does well to shy away and skirt around too much GROSS out frat boy humour, although there are moments that will make you cringe.

Much like Bridesmaids before it Pitch Perfect proves that an ensemble of women can be funny and have little need for men. I really did not think I would like Pitch Perfect as much as I did, but I found myself laughing and clapping and slightly upset when it finished.

FRC Rating

4 ACA-Stars