In “The To-Do List,” overachieving high school valedictorian Brandy Klark realizes there is more to life than straight As — feeling pressured to make up for what she missed out on at her Boise, Idaho, high school, Klark makes a list of sexual escapades to accomplish before heading to college in the fall of 1993.
Featuring an all-star comedy cast, “The To-Do List” is about close friendships and first-time adventures, but, based loosely on the real life and times of first-time director and writer Maggie Carey, “The To-Do List” comes off as vile, unfunny and ultimately miscast.
Aubrey Plaza is frankly too old to be playing a Type A, sexually repressed teenager. The genuineness of the “list” and lessons she supposedly learns seem forced and jaded, and the list’s importance makes for a very weak plot point, as we never learn Klark’s purpose or emotional reasoning behind it.
Klark herself is a basic character that you never really become invested in — or even root for in the first place — and the audience becomes less interested in the film as each sexual conquest on the list drags on. As for the rest of the star-studded cast, their characters just deliver so-so one-liners and never really seem to develop.
The unexpected, awkward gags that occur when Klark tries to fulfill each individual task are probably the funniest parts of the movie. However, this thin and floppy comedy falls flat with its failed attempts at revelations and life lessons on the true meanings of friendship and sex.
_MOVE gives “The To-Do List” 2 out of 5 stars._