The To Do List is absolutely delightful without being an "excellent" film. I can tell you right now, I'm gonna give it my elusive 3.75 star rating: a rating I give to movies that I enjoyed, but had enough flaws to keep them out of the 4 star range.
That said, if you're in the mood for a raunchy summer comedy, nothing should keep you away from The To Do List.
Like a feminist-minded Porky's, The To Do List is all about sex, baby. Smarty-pants valedictorian Brandy Klark (Aubrey Plaza, swapping her trademark sarcasm for milder deadpan here) is about to go to college. But before she goes, she's on a mission to learn a few lessons she missed out on while being such a good student in school.
With the help of her buddies (Alia Shawkat and Sarah Steele), Brandy creates a list of sexual activities to accomplish over the summer. Most are typical: hickies, giving and receiving oral, handjobs; others are goofy: motorboating, pearl necklace (side note: the film takes place in 1993. Was the term "motorboating" even a thing back then?).
Brandy spends her summer working at a public swimming pool with a cast of colorful characters, including the perfectly named Rusty Waters--a dreamy sufer dude who is on Brandy's list as the one to take her virginity. But before she can graduate to Rusty, Brandy selfishly screws around with other dudes to beef up her sexual bona fides.
What's interesting (and refreshing) about The To Do List is that the movie presents Brandy's sexual exploration as very emotionally removed. Many of the things on her list she does with her best guy friend, Cameron, who is not-so-secretly in love with her. But rather than using Cameron--the "right" guy--to put Brandy on an emotional journey, she basically uses him to get prepared to fuck the guy she *really* wants. Before you think "what a bitch!" (Brandy isn't a bitch so much as a driven, bossy gal...which is just fucking wonderful to see in a movie like this), be aware that Brandy learns that it's not right to use other people or abandon her friends in pursuit of the D*.
The movie definitely succeeds as a feminist comedy for a number of reasons: 1) Brandy is not shamed or punished for pursuing sex. Yes, she learns some lessons, but there is no pregnancy, STD, or heartbreak to "punish" her. 2) Brandy comes from a loving family with a mom (the wonderful Connie Britton) who is happy to talk to her about sex and even give her lube to use. This is no after-school special where a girl from a broken home ends up pregnant at 16. 3) Brandy pursues sex intellectually. Now, reading Cosmopolitan and Penthouse for sex tips isn't exactly a sex ed course, but the fact that Brandy uses the tools at her disposal to learn about sex (including the best ways to effectively achieve orgasm--yay!) shows that Brandy is a smart cookie and is exploring sex on her terms as an active participant. Brandy has safe sex, is never raped or mistreated. It's a breath of fresh air.
However, the film has its limits. Other than Brandy, I found the characters a bit one-note. The jokes are funny, but not clever. It's a sex comedy, so most of the jokes are pretty predicable. But the aspect that annoyed me the most is that the film is very "tell-y" not "show-y". It's the mark of a good filmmaker when they can get their point across without literally having the character explain verbally the lessons she's learned, as Brandy does in The To Do List. Granted, maybe director Maggie Carey wanted to make damn sure everyone in the audience "got" what this movie is about: women can and should pursue sex without shame and demand respect. That's awesome. And maybe she assumed a lot of people in the audience wouldn't be familiar of the concept of a woman having sex without being called a slut. That's quite possible. I just wish it was a leeeeetle less on the nose. Just a tad. The movie is so on the nose, it felt like my nose was being punched.
BUT, I'd recommend this movie anyway because it's funny, refreshing, profane, and Aubrey Plaza is wonderful. It's not going to be the movie that saves the world and awakens a sexual paradise in our dumb society, but it's a step in the right direction.
3.75 out of 5 stars
*"the D" means "the dick". FYI.
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