Month: July 2013

  • Pitch Perfect (2012)

    Pitch Perfect (2012)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, July 2013) Once in a while, a truly good teen comedy pops up and makes us forget about the mediocre rest.  While Pitch Perfect stars college-aged young women rather that high-schoolers, it’s sufficiently close in tone to Bring it On and Mean Girls to warrant comparison… even though it may not quite be as completely successful as those two earlier films.  Taking place in the world of college a capella groups (mining Mickey Rapkin’s non-fiction book for background, but not plot) Pitch Perfect is a contagiously enjoyable blend of comedy and music that presents a number of musical numbers and at least two showcase acting performances by young actresses.  This is Anna Kendrick’s signature piece to date, as the lead role allows her to use both the sweet and sour side of her we’ve seen on-screen so far: she’s just wonderful, and she gets to sing/play along (witness her solo performance of “Cups / When I’m Gone”, burning up the charts as I write this.)  Still, even a good performance gets overshadowed by a great one, and Pitch Perfect’s breakout star is Rebel Wilson, who transforms a potentially difficult role as an extrovert overweight girl into a scene-stealing blend of braggadocio, hilarity and inappropriate behavior.  Coupled with a better-than-average script with a good density of one-liners, near-perfect editing, staggeringly enjoyable song/dance numbers and a tone that is heavy on pure joy (there are at least three moments of pure wide-smiled bliss in the film, and it’s hard to get even one in a single film these days), Pitch Perfect claims a strong place as one of the best comedies of the year.  It’s not perfect, mind you: the graphic emphasis on vomiting is off-putting, the lead romance feels bland at best (there’s more chemistry between the protagonist and another female character), and the end of the film isn’t particularly good at tightening up all of the plot threads.  Still, Pitch Perfect is distinctly better than a lot of other teenage comedies and remains surprisingly entertaining even for older viewers.

  • The Awakening (2011)

    The Awakening (2011)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, July 2013) The British filmmakers behind The Awakening seem determined to uphold national stereotypes, as this quiet horror film manages to be successful in ways that bombastic American horror movies can’t quite manage.  The film start extremely well, as a professional skeptic in Post-WW1 Britain is asked to investigate mysterious happenings at a boarding school with a troubled history.  Much of the first half of the film is an effective demonstration of the power of good scripting, quiet scares, strong character work and effective atmosphere.  Rebecca Hall squarely carries The Awakening on her shoulders as the lead protagonist, a proto-feminist debunker who would love nothing more than to find proof of the supernatural.  Things take a left turn midway through, as the initial mystery is seemingly solved: suddenly, the protagonist realizes something else is in play, and the film shifts gears, realizing the potential of the film’s title and sending us in ever-unlikelier territory.  It all leads to a subtle ending that can be interpreted in two ways, to the pleasure or frustration of everyone.  Still, despite a somewhat weaker third act that depends on the quasi-magical powers of unsuspected amnesia, The Awakening is a successful horror film.  Rebecca Hall’s strong screen presence is complemented by other capable actors such as Dominic West and Imelda Staunton to improve the already-convincing atmosphere of the film.  It’s refreshingly free of gore, and given how it works in slightly different ways than most horror films, it’s worth tracking down for ghost-story fans.