Pitch Perfect 2

Concessions Guy, making small talk: “So, what are you here to see?”

Me:  “Pitch Perfect 2.”

Concessions Guy comes to a complete stop, drink in hand, looks at me, and tilts his head a little:  “Uh… with someone?”

Me, with a grin:  “Yes, with someone.”

“Ah, OK!”

(The above was the actual conversation that happened before I stepped in the movie theater to fully understand why.)
So, been planning to go to dinner and a movie with someone for a while, and schedules kept getting in the way (both of us end up with some really messed up schedules, though self-employment makes mine a whole lot more flexible.  So when her schedule suddenly opened up today, she asked if I still wanted to go, and of course the answer was yes.  We had already had twice where we made tentative plans for dinner and a movie, only to have it fall through due to schedule changes – take the opportunities when they arise.

Pitch Perfect 2 wouldn’t have been high on my list of things to watch normally.  In fact, I haven’t seen Pitch Perfect 1, but I couldn’t imagine that the plot-line was so advanced that I wouldn’t pick it up on the fly.  And it’s not the first time I’ve seen a chick-flick, it will be far from the last, and I’ve actually enjoyed a good number of them.  (But, don’t be passing that around – I’d lose a corner offa’ my man card.)   And she’s had some really high-stress stuff going on – being able to take her to see something she really wanted to see fell into the category of “nice things to do for people who need it” (of course, I still get the benefit of her company.)

When I walked into the theater, the theater was completely packed.  Only one other time have I been to a chick-flick that was completely packed (to the point of nearly decking people because of a combination of claustrophobia and dislike of crowds pressed up against me) was “What Women Want”.  But, this one was different – the crowd was younger (mainly teens) and OVERWHELMINGLY female.  At first glance, I saw no other men (after sitting and looking around a bit, I picked out maybe a dozen and a half in the crowd total.)

Oh boy.  What the hell did I just get myself into?  Oh well, I’ll probably still enjoy it.  And if I don’t, well, I’ll have a good story about how much I dislike it I suppose.

I’m not going to spoil anything about it.  In fact, if you fund yourself mysteriously sitting in the theater for this move, I’d hate to ruin the surprise in the first sequence.  I’m chomping my popcorn, expecting the performance to go well, and there to be drama backstage afterwards.  Nope – they didn’t wait that long, and it comes from an unexpected direction.  But, the important part is, the direction it took caught me off guard – a combination of parody of past pop-culture events, and playing on people’s expectations.

Now, that’s not to say that the movie wasn’t predictable.  As I watched the plot points present themselves, it was pretty easy to predict everything (I was only half-wrong on one plot point resolving differently than expected.)  But the execution was the important part – the movie drips with sarcasm in many points (I swear, one character – a music producer – had to have been written after someone met a friend of mine, Brent), and a lot of humor ranging from the crude (“crop dusting”), to witty, to stuff that you might actually have to know something about music.

So, I find myself in an odd position of saying “No, seriously – when it comes out on NetFlix, you gotta see it.  It’s worth it.” to a movie I expected I’d be bored seeing.  I love it when my expectations are shattered 🙂