Strains mightily against its PG13 rating

Rating: 6/10 (2 April 2013)

"Pitch Perfect" becomes a somewhat painful experience for empathetic souls who can feel the writers struggling against its PG13 constraints. The biggest confirmation of this is a joke involving one of the a Capella singing groups covering Lily Allen's "F*** You". It has to pull its punches by only suggesting bulimia jokes around Anna Camp's character Aubrey. Seriously dark lines are uttered at a whisper by Hana Mae Lee's Lilly although these are some of the funniest in the piece (as a bonding ritual she's asked her biggest secret to she stops the show with "I ate my twin the womb".) It's unfortunate the producers didn't abandon the tween market and go for the "Hangover" hard-R crowd - while funny this could have been hilarious. As far as the cast Rebel Wilson's "Fat Amy" ("it saves you having to call me that behind my back anyway") stands out among a group of actresses not sufficiently distinguishable from each other. In short, while short of its potential, an entertaining film.