The To Do List

The To Do List is a 2013 comedy directed by Maggie Carey and produced by CBS Films. The film stars Aubrey Plaza of Parks and Recreation fame as Brandy Klark, a girl graduating high school and who attempts to get more sexual experience before going to college. Brandy Klark is organized, bright and socially awkward, in addition to being sexually inexperienced and overachieving. The film is set during the summer of 1993, incidentally three months before i was born.

Brandy decides that she needs to get more sexual experience before she leaves for college, true to form she makes a list of all the vaguely sexual acts she can find, attempts to define them, and attempts to achieve them all by the end of the summer. Brandy also works as a lifeguard at the public poo, and the subplot of the movie involves Brandy being hazed by the employees of the pool.

The To Do List is surprisingly funny, and there were many moments in which i laughed out loud, this overall is due to the films fun script and talented cast. I make no secret of my love of Aubrey Plaza, and i watch Parks and Recreation, in part for her performance, it is great to see her in another leading role, and this role strays far from her usual slacker roles. The rest of the cast is also bright and charismatic, and i am also a fan of Alia Shawkat, and it's great to see her outside of Arrested Development.

I also like the film's amorality, the characters have an open and liberal attitude to sex, and by the end of the film, neither their opinions nor their perspectives haven't really changed, and Brandy gets to the end realizing in fact that sex still really isn't that big of a deal - for her at least. Brandy ends the film with a no regrets perspective, regretting nothing and having enjoyed the experience. The only place that the film fails is that there is relatively little character development, and we get to the end knowing little more about Brandy than we did at the beginning, and there are various points in the film where it feels the need to resort to gross out humor that tends to cheapen the film.

Overall, despite not being a great film, The To Do List is a funny and poignant film, the kind of sexual freedom shown in the film is rare, and Brandy's character makes the straight up decision to have sex without the film needing to slut-shame her or regard her decisions with scorn or disdain. The To Do List is an entertaining way to spend a few hours, and raises some interesting points about female sexuality. Rating:B-

Fiona: Hello, welcome to big bun. Brandy: I’ve decided to lose my virginity to Rusty Waters. Fiona: Would you like fries with that?