3 out of 5
Recent years have played host to a rise in female empowerment in Hollywood. Women are in the front of the comedy field. Tina Fey has gone from top writer at “Saturday Night Live” to having her own Emmy winning show. Her former Weekend Update partner Amy Poehler is the star of the NBC comedy “Parks and Recreation.” Kristin Wiig, another “Saturday Night Live” veteran, wrote, starred and scored an Oscar nomination for “Bridesmaids,” one of the best and most successful comedies in recent times.
Names like Chelsea Handler, Kat Dennings, Whitney Cummings, Zooey Deschanel and Aubrey Plaza also grace the list of successful female comedians, which continues to grow. Women are finally being acknowledged as funny. When women finally get attention to show what they can do, that is real entertainment. As Matthew Perry said at this year’s The Comedy Awards, “This wasn’t the year women finally became funny, this was the year men finally pulled their heads out of their asses.”
A prime example of women’s taking center stage in comedy is the film “Pitch Perfect,” which is good thanks to Kay Cannon’s stellar writing and a fantastic ensemble cast. “Pitch Perfect” follows Beca (Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick), a snippy, wisecracking college freshman and aspiring DJ and producer studying at Barden University. Barden prides itself on its a cappella groups, specifically the male-headed Treblemakers and the female Barden Bellas. The Treblemakers are cocky frat boys led by egomaniac Bumper (“Workaholics” favorite Adam DeVine). The Bellas are known to be tight-winded singers who dress like airline stewardesses and sing tired versions of “I Saw The Sign” and other recycled female ballads. Led by exuberant Chloe (Brittany Snow) and uptight Aubrey (Anna Camp), The Bellas are desperate to return to the national championships of a cappella. The group comprises an odd cast of singers, including characters like Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) and soft-spoken Lilly (Hana Mae Lee). But although the Bellas don’t look flawless, their singing and group effort is. Beca finds a cappella annoying, but nevertheless joins up to have her father pay for a trip to Los Angeles to kick-start her future. Beca also finds the Bellas bland and in need of a “remix.”
Despite being as cliché as an episode of “Glee,” “Pitch Perfect” makes up for its predictability with a dynamite cast of characters. Anna Kendrick is a great deadpan who knows her roles; her Oscar nomination was for her uptight, snarky role in “Up In The Air.” She brings that with a bigger hint of heart as Beca, who lets the Bellas loose in a slow but sure manner. Camp’s method of adding most remarks with an “acca” in the beginning can get annoying at times, but seeing her lose the habit later in the film is great. But the true star of this movie is Rebel Wilson as Fat Amy. Wilson has been great in small roles in “Bridesmaids” and “Bachelorette,” but this has got to be her breakout. She takes the comedy standard of awkward girl and makes it look fresh. We’ll be hearing more from her very soon, hopefully.
“Pitch Perfect” is a delightful surprise at the theatre and continuously shows off the riotous new female talent emerging in Hollywood. The public is finally starting to take notice of all the female talent, and “Pitch Perfect” is a great way to continue.
