Review of The To Do List (2013) by Matt L — 27 Jul 2013

It's relatively safe to say the teen comedy is on the verge of death - at least for the moment. With so many different films attempting to ride the coattails of America Pie, film writers have been dead set outdoing each other in the "outlandish" department with each new film. While American Pie can be credited with the modern success of the "sex comedy," it was classics like Porky's, Animal House, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High that set the stage for Pie's eventual success. In the year's following its 1999 release, several similar incarnations of America Pie were released - including Superbad, Van Wilder, and The Girl Next Door. Each of these films, and countless others like it, followed the exact same premise, making sex the most important aspect of teen adolescence. However, due to the over abuse of the "teen sex comedy," it has become an utterly predictable genre, currently lacking originality. Recent films, such as 21 & Over, Project X, and even American Reunion, have all been commercially successful - yet failed to contribute something new or different to the genre. Adding to the list of unoriginal teen sex comedies is the new film, The To Do List.

Making her feature-length directorial debut, Maggie Carey writes and directs The To Do List, starring Aubrey Plaza as Brandy Klark. The year is 1993 and Brady is graduating high school at the top of her class, but she has never had a sexual experience in her life. Deciding she needs to be experienced before entering college, she makes a "to do" check list of sexual maneuvers that will remedy her lack of experience. She takes a job at the local public swimming pool, which also happens to be where her "crush," Rusty Waters (Scott Porter), is working for the summer. From beginning to end, it's a summer full of hijinks as Brandy focuses on finishing her checklist while dealing with her straightforward parents, verbally abusive sister, and drunken boss. Bill Hader, Rachel Bilson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Alia Shawkat, Sarah Steel, Johnny Simmons, Connie Britton, and Clark Gregg also star in supporting roles.

Aubrey Plaza does an admirable job of leading the charge in this humorous, raunchy flick. Her character has a stern sensibility - unwavering and direct. And while Plaza is a like-able main character, she's not that loveable. In comparison to other main characters in teen sex comedies, like Jonah Hill or Jason Biggs, there's really no ambition to root for Brandy Klark. She exudes far too much confidence to create a believable story and frankly, she really doesn't face a conundrum over the course of this film - other than when or if she should attempt to "close the deal" with her male infatuation, Rusty Waters. Over the course of the film, her character is too promiscuous for her own good, which doesn't exactly paint a pretty picture for the seemingly meaningless acts of her teen angst.

While the Brandy Klark character and her unbelievably direct ambitions are the major hang-up of this film, the rest of the supporting characters make up for it with a great deal of absurd interactions of their own, making for plenty of unrealistic laughs - if you're into sexual humor. Some of the scenes really press the limit of the R-rating, including a rather memorable movie theater experience, an encounter in the pool's shower room, and a frightfully embarrassing father/daughter moment during the closing minutes of the film. Speaking of the father, Clark Gregg, whom many will recognize as Agent Coulson from Marvel's The Avengers, plays Brandy's father - a sheltered parent that is easily embarrassed by his wife and daughters. Friday Night Lights alum Connie Britton plays his wife and Brandy's mother - the brutally honest parent that openly prepares her daughters for sex. On the plus side, nearly each and every scene involving Clarke and Britton will provide for a substantial amount of laughter. Rachel Bilson, who plays Brandy's sister in the film, also provides a handful of laughs with her critical, often verbally abusive language towards Brandy.

The To Do List could easily change its name to "Superbad 2" as both Superbad and The To Do List mirror each other in plot direction, only from the opposite side of the gender spectrum. Both films put sex on a pedestal for curious teens, with Superbad obviously focusing on the high school male perspective, while The To Do List focuses on the female aspect of sexual encounters. And oddly enough, both films feature Bill Hader and Christopher Mintz-Plasse in supporting roles. Mintz-Plasse, who struck stardom as the awkward teen, McLovin, is not as prominent in this film as he was in Superbad. Hader, on the other hand, plays a similar character - which doesn't take life too seriously and often spends his time doing irresponsible things, like drinking all day and well, drinking all night, too. Still - in the grand scheme of things, these supporting players provide somewhat important roles for both flicks.

The bad news about The To Do List, which heavily outweighs anything good about the film, is the fact that it will simply remind you of countless other teen comedies, like the pre-mentioned comedies, Superbad and American Pie. Sure, The To Do List is chalk full of embarrassing, childish moments and sex jokes that will make for a few belly laughs - but the film focuses far too much on cheap laughs and not enough on an intelligible plot. While popular films like American Pie or Superbad set themselves apart from the rest of the films in its genre, The To Do List doesn't DO anything new. It's simply more of the same raunchy sexual experiences that a writer dreamed up in order to achieve these uninspiring cheap laugh. The film's plot works fine for what it is, and at certain points, it's even charming. But, it's simply unoriginal and features a film premise that is severely outdated and over abused. For those that love this style of humor, sure this film is worth a view - but for everyone else, this film has the power to easily offend and remains too uninteresting for any rational person to find meaning in it.

GRADE: C-.