The To Do List (2013)

"The To Do List" (R, 1:44) is a raunchy comedy from first-time writer/director Maggie Carey, who loosely based the movie on her real-life experiences. The film stars the very talented Aubrey Plaza ("Parks and Recreation") as Brandy Klark, a brilliant high school graduate who becomes convinced that she has to prepare for college by having all the sexual experiences that her commitment to studying and her social awkwardness have not allowed for. Her sister (played by Rachel Bilson from the CW series "Hart of Dixie") and Brandy's two sexually experienced besties (Alia Shawkat and Sarah Steele) encourage her, and Brandy gets to work. She approaches her problem as if she's preparing to take the SATs – in another language. She makes a list of sexual experiences and methodically works her way down the list with a variety of guys from her graduating class. It's an interesting set-up with potential for some very naughty humor, but I found the film lacking in execution.

There are a number of things in this movie that just don't make sense. How could such a smart girl be so clueless about sex? (Inexperienced, yes, but totally ignorant?) Why would two experienced, socially well-adjusted girls be best friends with the arrogant, closed-off Brandy? And how could Brandy, who had barely kissed a boy before graduating high school, so quickly and easily embrace her inner slut? I could go on. This film just becomes a series of awkward and disgusting moments that are supposed to make us laugh, but left me just feelingÂ….dirty. Now, "The To Do List" does have its funny moments, but there would have been more if Carey had shown just a little more restraint. Often, sexual situations in a comedy are funniest when more is left to the imagination. It's both surprising and disappointing that the director would let these gags go farther than they needed to, because otherwise she managed her cast extremely well! The supporting players are a Who's Who of NBC's best actors, but they all play against type. These stars of NBC sitcoms (including Donald Glover from "Community", Nolan Gould from "Modern Family" and Jack McBrayer from "30 Rock"), Saturday Night Live (Bill Hader and Andy Samberg) and even NBC dramas (Connie Britton and Scott Porter from "Friday Night Lights" and Clark Gregg from "The West Wing") all give effective and entertaining performances without relying on the specific qualities that have made them successful in previous roles. In fact, I can't remember the last time I've seen an ensemble of actors (especially comic actors) so universally separate themselves from their most popular characters. It's too bad that their efforts were not in support of a better script or a funnier movie. I would recommend that you leave "The To Do List" off of your "Movies To See List", something that it's too late for me to do. At this point, all I can do is tell you about this movie's few strengths, many weaknesses and give the film a "C".

Fmovies: Excellent fun movie, just great entertainment from a perspective hardly ever seen from Hollywood, I hope it gets a bigger bang from word of mouth than it did at the box office, I was surprised that it had such few viewers! hopefully because of the cast more people will pick it up! loved the performance, only thing that stopped me from giving it a full 10 was that they had to play it like she was just.. "studying" instead of being gratified by the experiences, but that was the only thing that seemed to pull off any punches although yeah it's more likely to be that way for a young woman? so anyway just great all around, watch it! and tell a friend! this movie deserves a way higher rating!

In short, this film was just ridiculously stupid and ever so stiffly written.

It is the first film I have ever walked out of. There were at least 7 or 8 couples who left the theater, along with a group of probably 10 people, and an immeasurable amount of people who started playing on their phones. I'm sure I was followed by a few more people as well.

Before you discard my review because I didn't watch the end, I did stay for about 80 out of the 105 minutes and just didn't care enough to stay.

The film has a highly overdone premise, yet I hoped it would take a somewhat original take on it with this "to-do list" idea. Wrong. The movie had the most stiff dialog that was just so full of overly crude and unrealistic give and take between characters that it made me feel like I was watching some sort of amateur movie made by a sex-crazed film student.

Before you write me off as a prude who just picked the wrong film, I'll tell you that I'm not. I watch and enjoy many modern comedies but this one was just so bland and stupid. The depiction of the main character was confused and poor. The main character didn't allow for as much humor to pervade the film as it could have and that is the fault of the writer. It's almost like Mrs. Bill Hader (writer and director) didn't know what to do to add in humor so she threw in her husband for a little bit of weak and lame slapstick/stupidity humor.

An obvious comparison of this film would be the American Pie films, which share in the same sort of over-the-top sexual content/humor. I enjoyed those way more than this film simply because they were funny and had characters you actually liked. The stiffness of the characters in this movie were at the fault of the writer, no one else. Rachel Bilson and Clark Gregg, in the little screen time they had, made a legit effort to bring realism into their characters and allowed for a couple short chuckles.

It seems that this film is getting some good reviews here on IMDb, and that's okay, I'm not trying to ruin Maggie Carey's career or anything. I'm just telling it like I saw it, and I respect the positive reviews, but for me I just didn't catch the funny parts in such an awkwardly progressing story about a girl who completes sexual actions with others as part of a to-do list.

Overall, the film was an unsophisticated, unrealistic, overly explicit and awkward dramatization of teenage sexuality. The only reason I gave this 2 stars instead of 1 is because of some of the supporting characters who had somewhat attractive performances and saved some of the more awkward scenes.

The To Do List fmovies. Aubrey Plaza is Brandy Klark, fresh out of high school and working as a lifeguard for the summer before taking off to college. Brandy is a straight A student with strong morals who has always succeeded at everything she tries. When she meets Rusty Waters at a grad party, she makes it a goal to loose her virginity to him before the summer is over. Not having had any previous sexual experiences whatsoever and embarrassed about how little she knows about sex, Brandy decides to educate herself, taking it on like a school project.

The To Do List takes us back to 1993 with an excellent cast including Bill Hader, possibly the best comedic actor working today, Johnny Simmons as Brandy's best male friend, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Alia Shawkat as Brandy's best friend, Rachel Bilson as Brandy's older sister as well as Clark Gregg and Connie Britton as Brandy's parents. Even Andy Samberg appears in the film's funniest sequence.

With all the greatness The To Do List had going for it, it falls to the level of an American Pie flick. This sex-comedy is so raunchy that it becomes more uncomfortable than funny to watch, even embarrassing in some scenes. Oddly enough the only genuine part of the film is the friendship that blossoms between employee and boss, Aubrey Plaza and Bill Hader. However that still isn't enough to save the film from the failed attempts at laugh-out-loud worthy low-brow humor.

I didn't know what to expect going into seeing this one. I actually never even saw a trailer for it, but I read the synopsis and saw the impressive cast list and that was enough to get me interested. Even getting to the parking lot I asked my buddy if the movie was rated R and he said yes, and I was ensured of this as the movie started and "Me So Horny" by 2 Live Cru started playing during the opening credits. The movie takes place in 1993 and is about a recent high school grad who decides she needs to explore her sexuality and makes a "to do" list of all the things she wants to try before losing her virginity. I graduated high school in 96 so I could definitely relate to the setting and anyone who grew up during that time will get quite a few chuckles with all the references. But regardless of what era the movie was set in, it would still be a hilarious film. Aubrey Plaza is fantastic as the lead and shows a whole other side than how April is on Parks and Recreation. The rest of the cast is solid as well, with Bill Hader, Donald Glover, Rachel Bilson, Clark Gregg, and Connie Britton. There's almost too many to name. But as I said in the title, this may be the filthiest teen comedy ever made. It reminded me some of American Pie and Superbad but this movie takes it to a whole other level. It does get a little graphic, though there's not any nudity which is an odd thing to say after saying its graphic. You'll just have to see for yourself. I think the ladies will be able to relate to the movie more than guys, but regardless, its funny for everyone. I think I heard more laughter in the theater in total during this than I did This is the End. I think this could be the sleeper hit of the summer.

I normally can see merit in almost any movie. I am definitely a glass half-full type of person. I thought that this would be a coming-of-age movie that would be similar to Porky's or American Pie. However, I was disappointed to find a movie that really had no point and no message to tell its viewers.

From disgusting gags about a girl eating feces to other scenes of girls continuing to have sex in front of their parents after getting caught, the movie lacked any realism. She creates a list to create a list, not out of an interest in self-exploration or in discovering more about how people think and interact. She goes tediously through the list with no real emotion (similar to her Parks and Rec character) and I similarly found myself with the same ambivalence, apathy, and disinterest that she took in her subject matter.

I rented it knowing that it would be raunchy. However, it was not raunchy, it was simply mind- numbingly stupid and a waste of a couple hours of time. I would rather watch Porky's or American Pie for a revolving 24-hour back-to-back setting than to watch this movie another time. I always finish movies and this was one of the few that I thought about turning off and not finishing. It just continually grew more and more boring and disinterested by the minute. None of the characters, except for Bill Hader, were at all likable or relatable.