The feeling of girl power and the idea that music can change the world was present Thursday night during the early screening of Pitch Perfect thanks to the Universal UT Austin branch. I felt an instant nostalgia for the days of running around my house singing Spice Girls at top of my lungs. Held at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar, the theater was packed with student organizations, music-lovers, and performers of the One Note Stand and Hum A cappella singing groups. Both groups performed a few medleys before the movie began.
Pitch Perfect explores the world of competitive college a cappella groups, following Beca, a freshman who would rather be in L.A. producing music than at college, as she joins Barden Bellas, the all-girl a cappella group on campus. With a few party scenes, girl bonding moments, and a strand of daddy-issues, you had your typical teenage movie. But I’m not lying when I say the movie had the whole theater tapping their toes, snapping their fingers, and singing along to the songs.
With the whole movie focused on music, there were plenty of songs that were echoed by the audience, especially Miley Cyrus’ fun-and-catchy-yet-everyone-pretends-not-to-like-it “Party in the U.S.A.”. Being a brat pack fanatic, I started rocking out when they sang “Don’t You Forget About Me”
from The Breakfast Club. Another favorite was when the Barden Bellas sang “No Diggity” at the a cappella “Riff-Off”, and has probably been downloaded by anyone that was in the theater.
The cast was satisfying, but Rebel Wilson’s character “Fat Amy” stole the show. Her one-liners filled the theater with laughter, and without her, the movie wouldn’t have been nearly as entertaining. “Jesse”, played by Skylar Astin and his quirky roommate “Benji” played by Ben Platt also added some fun moments, but it was really Wilson and “Lilly” played by Hana Mae Lee that truly made it a movie worth watching.
If you’re looking for Oscar worthy screenwriting or in-depth character development, I would look elsewhere. If you are looking for a feel good movie that provides that college movie feel, tons of laughs, and songs to sing along to (and we’ll be stuck in your head for days after), look no further. Pitch Perfect was pretty a ca-mazing!