Within the first five minutes of Pitch Perfect, the stranger sitting next to me uttered that it seemed like a "total made-for-TV movie." I was originally put off by his flippant dismissal of the new comedy, but after sitting through the entire trite film, I have to agree. Anna Kendrick is at the heart of Pitch Perfect playing Beca, a humorless college freshman who joins the Barden Bellas, a floundering female a capella group, at the insistence of her father. While she'd rather be spinning records for the campus radio station, Beca reluctantly embraces the opportunity to help the group free itself from the binds of its traditionally snore-worthy performances. Though peppered with some laughs and a couple fun musical numbers, the movie ultimately feels uninspired.
Borrowing aspects from the wealth of fish-out-of-water college comedies that have come before it, Pitch Perfect attempts to stand out from the rest by delving into the "cutthroat" world of a capella singers. Though many of the creative musical mash-ups like "Bright Lights Bigger City"/"Magic" are impressive, it's a gimmick that doesn't quite make up for the overall lack of originality. To find out what parts of Pitch Perfect I did enjoy, keep reading.
