010. Review - The To Do List

CBS Films

NBC’s Parks and Recreation has raised the status of many of its stars over the past several years, from the loveable Chris Pratt to the stoic Nick Offerman.  Amongst the women in the group, however, the breakout star has arguably been Aubrey Plaza, playing intern-turned-assistant April Ludgate with a surprising balance of acidic wit and genuine warmth.  After bit parts in programs like Portlandia and NTSF:SD:SUV and a successful lead role in the sci-fi dramedy Safety Not Guaranteed, Plaza is trying her hand at headlining a comedy with The To Do List. Directed by Maggie Carey, the film stars Plaza as Brandy Klark, the virginal valedictorian of the Boise High School Class of ’93, who spends her summer doing her sexual “homework” to prepare for her first year of college.  Filled to the brim with 90’s nostalgia and innuendo, The To Do List is an earnest, fun, and light directorial debut for Carey, a film that has a lot of bark but unfortunately lacks the bite to back it up.

Aubrey Plaza, currently one of the reigning Queens of Snark, has made a career out of playing aloof and cynical characters, with the brusque Brandy Klark being an interesting addition to her repertoire, more of a horizontal than vertical movement.  Instead of being uncaring and cold, Brandy is a perfectionist, an academic awards collector, and when she encounters the hilariously-smug town hunk Rusty Waters, played by Scott Porter, she becomes determined to make “sexually experienced” another point on her metaphorical resume.  With some help from her friends, played by Alia Shawkat and Sarah Steele, and some guidance from the wayward town pool owner Willy, played by Carey’s real-life husband Bill Hader, Brandy works her way through her to-do list with the diligence and candor of a good student.  The humor comes from her deadly seriousness when it comes to the acts she’s checking off, from handjobs to blowjobs to everything in-between; it’s the kind of gross-out humor normally reserved for male-driven comedies, so it’s refreshing to see it in a female-driven one.  Plaza is game for just about everything the film throws at her, tackling the revealing moments with an admirable amount of gusto.  While it isn’t her best role, Brandy Klark is still a great character and brings out the best parts of The To Do List, the raunchy glue that holds the film together.

On top of the film’s premise, The To Do List also touts an impressive supporting cast, one that any other movie would be lucky to have.  On top of the aforementioned Shawkat, Porter, and Hader, the film also stars Clark Gregg, Connie Britton, and Rachel Bilson as Brandy’s surprisingly candid family, Donald Glover, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Johnny Simmons as her fellow graduates, and Andy Samberg as a greasy grunge singer.  Each of these actors has delivered great performances on their own, both comedic and dramatic, and yet here in The To Do List they never quite seem to come together.  It’s an unfortunate case of excess, as the sheer number of billed actors means that they’re each given proportionally less to do, with many being whittled down to one-note jokes.  In this sense, what could have been one of the highlights of the film ends up being one of the strongest marks against it, as a great majority of the characters here feel flat and unrealized, the actors given very little to do.  The exceptions here are Hader’s surprisingly warm performance as Willy and Porter in an entertaining turn as Rusty Waters, but they’re regrettably not able to make up for the other wasted talents, a promising cast that never truly delivers.

Such is the essential problem with most of The To Do List, the unfortunately unfulfilled potential.  Despite having a fresh and enticing premise, a rising star as the leading lady, and a bevy of great supporting actors, the affair feels somewhat slight and at times even harmless.  It’s a strange feeling, especially considering the film’s content, but it all feels reined in and controlled, like the line is being toed but never truly crossed. Although the film is earnest and fun, it still lacks the energy present in other female-driven comedies like Bridesmaids and The Heat, the edge that catapulted them over the heads of the traditional male comedies.  Much of this can arguably be attributed to the fact that this is Maggie Carey’s first film, and the inexperience shows in the thin characters and somewhat threadbare plot.  However, the laughs are certainly there, both from Aubrey Plaza’s acidic performance and the script itself, with some moments reaching hilarious highs.  On the whole, while there is some unrealized potential, The To Do List is still an enjoyable morsel of a comedy and, hopefully, a sign of good things to come from both director and actress.

Grade: B-