As can be expected from the title, trailer, poster, and concept of the film, The To-Do List is chock full of penis and vagina jokes. It isn't a high-brow comedy, but the sex jokes and gags are funny without feeling as juvenile as they do in many other films, like the countless American Pie movies. Also, amazingly, there is no actual nudity. Though the plot falters here and there, overall it is a satisfying comedy.
The plot is quite straightforward, the virgin high school valedictorian, Brandy played by Aubrey Plaza, is looking for sexual experience and to lose her virginity before going to college. Her target is Rusty Waters, a college guy she works with at the local pool. The plot however, starts to fall apart a bit at the end of the second act. There is a rival pool club introduced, people start exploiting Brandy, and other things where is minimal to no payoff. There are also really cliché final monologues by Brandy about sex and love, which aren't funny at all and feel out of place.
I am a huge fan of Aubrey Plaza. April Ludgate from Parks and Recreations is fantastic. This is just her second leading role in a feature after Safety Not Guaranteed. Overall, her performance is great and she is funny. However, there are a few instances where her lines felt a big forced. I think the larger problem was the character. Conceptually it is an interesting character, A-student approaching sex in a systematic way and eventually becoming a sexual deviant. While this should be a subtle character arc, in this film Brandy becomes a completely different person almost immediately. While her dialogue is generally consistent, her actions are not. It feels like the character was written into situations, instead of thinking what situations the character would find herself in. Speaking of character arcs: Bill Hader's character Willy. Bill Hader is hilarious and the character is great, but the way he is used the plot is strange. It seems like he may have initially had a lot more scenes that were cut.
The rest of the characters in the movie are great though. The interactions between Brandy and her sister lead to many a lols. Brandy's parents are also the source of a lot of humor. (People keep mentioning Brandy's dad is a judge, though it never comes to play. Am I missing a reference? The whole time I was waiting for him to do something judge-y. But I digress). Brandy's two best friends are funny as well. They are more sexually experienced than Brandy and offer her amusing advice and it is slowly revealed that almost as ignorant as Brandy. Cameron (Johnny Simmons) is the sort of cliché 'male best friend who is desperately in love with her but she doesn't realize her feelings till the end' character. But in this film he is quite a wimp, crying and moping around often. Rusty Waters also might seem like a cliché on the surface, but in the end he isn't the typical movie 'jerk who she is in love with and doesn't realize he is a jerk'. Also, it's great to see recognizable faces like Donald Glover, Andy Samberg, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse in minor roles.
The time period is also another character in the film- the 90s. Every scene is riddled with things pure 90s America- beepers, waterbeds, furniture covered in plastic, various posters of 90s bands and TV shows. Most of the time they are more subtle jokes and aren't in your face, though a few instances feel like it's a bit much.
tl;dr Sex jokes sex jokes everywhere; great for anyone who grew up in 90s America, fun characters, don't think about the plot too much.
The plot is quite straightforward, the virgin high school valedictorian, Brandy played by Aubrey Plaza, is looking for sexual experience and to lose her virginity before going to college. Her target is Rusty Waters, a college guy she works with at the local pool. The plot however, starts to fall apart a bit at the end of the second act. There is a rival pool club introduced, people start exploiting Brandy, and other things where is minimal to no payoff. There are also really cliché final monologues by Brandy about sex and love, which aren't funny at all and feel out of place.
I am a huge fan of Aubrey Plaza. April Ludgate from Parks and Recreations is fantastic. This is just her second leading role in a feature after Safety Not Guaranteed. Overall, her performance is great and she is funny. However, there are a few instances where her lines felt a big forced. I think the larger problem was the character. Conceptually it is an interesting character, A-student approaching sex in a systematic way and eventually becoming a sexual deviant. While this should be a subtle character arc, in this film Brandy becomes a completely different person almost immediately. While her dialogue is generally consistent, her actions are not. It feels like the character was written into situations, instead of thinking what situations the character would find herself in. Speaking of character arcs: Bill Hader's character Willy. Bill Hader is hilarious and the character is great, but the way he is used the plot is strange. It seems like he may have initially had a lot more scenes that were cut.
The rest of the characters in the movie are great though. The interactions between Brandy and her sister lead to many a lols. Brandy's parents are also the source of a lot of humor. (People keep mentioning Brandy's dad is a judge, though it never comes to play. Am I missing a reference? The whole time I was waiting for him to do something judge-y. But I digress). Brandy's two best friends are funny as well. They are more sexually experienced than Brandy and offer her amusing advice and it is slowly revealed that almost as ignorant as Brandy. Cameron (Johnny Simmons) is the sort of cliché 'male best friend who is desperately in love with her but she doesn't realize her feelings till the end' character. But in this film he is quite a wimp, crying and moping around often. Rusty Waters also might seem like a cliché on the surface, but in the end he isn't the typical movie 'jerk who she is in love with and doesn't realize he is a jerk'. Also, it's great to see recognizable faces like Donald Glover, Andy Samberg, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse in minor roles.
The time period is also another character in the film- the 90s. Every scene is riddled with things pure 90s America- beepers, waterbeds, furniture covered in plastic, various posters of 90s bands and TV shows. Most of the time they are more subtle jokes and aren't in your face, though a few instances feel like it's a bit much.
tl;dr Sex jokes sex jokes everywhere; great for anyone who grew up in 90s America, fun characters, don't think about the plot too much.