WHO’S IN IT?
Aubrey Plaza (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World), Johnny Simmons (The Perks Of Being A Wallflower), Bill Hader (Superbad), Scott Porter (Speed Racer), Alia Shawkat (The Runaways), Rachel Bilson (Jumper), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Kick-Ass), Andy Samberg (Hot Rod), Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights), Clark Gregg (Marvel’s The Avengers), Jack McBrayer (Wreck-It Ralph)
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Maggie Carey (film debut), director, writer; Mark Gordon (Source Code), Tom Lassally (Stay), Brian Robbins (A Thousand Words), Sharla Sumpter (The Perfect Score), Jennifer Todd (Alice in Wonderland) and Greg Walter (film debut), producers; Jason Boschetti (film debut) and Raney Shockne (Anger Management), composers; Doug Emmett (Damsels in Distress), cinematographer; Paul Frank (Cold Comes The Night), editor
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
In 1993, Brandy Klark (Plaza) is a straight-A student, the valedictorian at her high school graduation and not the most popular amongst her peers due to her uptight personality and image. She wants to change all that, however, if she is to get a fresh start at college. To do just that, she compiles a list of “activities” of things she never got to do in high school, leading up to losing her virginity, which she aims to complete before September…
WHY SHOULD YOU BE EXCITED?
It’s been a good long while since the last decent sex comedy – the American Pie films made a lot of money, and cult hits like Van Wilder and Porky’s have remained a strong presence with movie-goers. And although The To Do List isn’t exactly setting out to change the game of the sub-genre like, say, The 40-Year-Old Virgin did, it still seems to be a more worthwhile attempt at it than other half-assed productions like Good Luck Chuck and Project X.
If anything, it should be a breakout hit for lead actress Aubrey Plaza who, after bit parts in Funny People, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and most recently a lead role in Safety Not Guaranteed, is finally given the chance to perhaps pull an Emma Stone and walk away with the entire movie. At the very least, Plaza will have a Kanye moment to take away from all of this, after she stormed the stage of the MTV Movie Awards earlier this year during Will Ferrell’s acceptance speech to promote this very film. The response was typically Kanye-esque, but at least knowledge of the film reached more than a handful of additional people.
Supporting Plaza on her way to the, erm, plaza, is a strong comedic cast that includes Johnny Simmons, Clark Gregg, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Alia Shawkat, Rachel Bison and former Saturday Night Live alumni Bill Hader and Andy Samberg. They all should have some decent moments in this film, but it is clear that this is geared toward being a standout project for Plaza. And although this film may not have had the warmest reception in the US with mixed reviews and minimal box office intake, her name will rise in the very near future whether this does find an audience or not.
While sex comedies are usually geared toward horny teenagers, there is a sense of nostalgia for slightly older viewers to appreciate as well. Cleverly setting the tale in the early 90s, there are some little tidbits all throughout that even the least fond of that time period can look back on and think “Oh God, I actually remember that”. Hopefully, this should give The To Do List some strength amongst others in the teen sex comedy sub-genre, because it’s at least having some form of effort put into it rather than just simply inserting gross-out gags just for the hell of it. Although there are some here too, apparently. You’ll have to see it to find out.
