Pitch Perfect
A college a cappella group competes for a title.
Directed by Jason Moore
(PG-13)
***
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This feather-light but energetic comedy is “impossible not to like,” said Connie Ogle in The Miami Herald. You know from the start where it’s headed: When a staid, all-female college a cappella group recruits an artsy outsider in their bid to win a world title, they will eventually have to adopt the newcomer’s edgier tastes in order to triumph. “But getting to that point is a lot of fun,” thanks largely to all the upbeat musical numbers and a couple of compelling performances. Indeed, Anna Kendrick is “adorable” as the lead, while Rebel Wilson, playing a fellow singer who calls herself Fat Amy, proves “so unstoppable and raucous” that “she steals every scene she’s in,” said Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times. Still, a viewer has to put up with a lot of modern-showbiz nonsense along the way, including a wan romance and some de rigueur projectile vomiting. But the music and laughs come so fast you might not care, said Kyle Smith in the New York Post. If you’re a fan of camp, Pitch Perfect is a movie “to be obsessed over,” to see 50 times, and to quote as devoutly as “such sacred texts as Heathers.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
‘Care fractures after birth’instant opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Shots fired in the US-EU war over digital censorshipIN THE SPOTLIGHT The Trump administration risks opening a dangerous new front in the battle of real-world consequences for online action
-
What will the US economy look like in 2026?Today’s Big Question Wall Street is bullish, but uncertain