The To Do List
(2013, Maggie Carey – Dir)
Tonight, I have seen what could be the best teen film none of you watched this year. Maggie Carey both wrote and directed The To Do List, which stars Aubrey Plaza as Brandy Klark, a straight A student who unlike Emma Stone's Olive in Easy A, actually wants to lose her virginity, and learn as many different sexual acts as it takes to get there and learn all there is to know.
Aubrey Plaza does a great job as Brandy, and really made you believe she is that innocent (this takes place, as it only could, in 1993, before the internet turned us all into porn experts). For the prudes among us, Plaza is actually older than she looks. Despite that, she comes off as a teenager, as do her friends.
Brandy is aided in her quest for sex by her two best friends: Fiona (the always wonderful Alia Shawkat) and Wendy (Sarah Steele). Both are portrayed as more worldly than Brandy, and Steele's character is played as just a little stupid, but the sweet kind of stupid who comes off as lovable. The pair are actually never seen apart in the movie, and get some comedy gold, but this is Brandy's story, and they are relegated to bit parts. The perplexing thing is that the three girls are best friends, but the more promiscuous pair never mention any sexual terms or slang to Brandy, especially since they've done some of the things she has on her list.
Connie Britton and Clark Gregg play Brandy's parents, and Rachel Bilson plays her older, sluttier sister, Amber. Amber is played up as the most sexually experienced character in the movie, which works as a great counterpoint to Brandy's almost complete innocence. Clark Gregg plays the most clueless dad ever, and Connie Britton the more experienced mom who you feel kind of knows what her daughter is up to (the deleted scenes pretty much spell this out). The family dynamic is really well established and feels somewhat real, though Gregg's refusal to discuss any matter that is remotely sexual is a bit overblown. Brandy works at the local pool for Willy (Bill Hader). Hader nails it. No other way to put it. Willy steals his scenes, but still manages to have a bit of naive charm. Also working at the pool are Cameron (Johnny Simmons) who has a huge crush on Brandy, Derrick (Donald Glover), and Brandy's crush, Rusty Waters (Scott Porter). Simmons plays Cameron as the simpy, Ducky-like character we can easily recognize in dozens of films, while Porter plays Rusty as...the pretty boy, goal-date of the lead female protagonist who...well, who we've seen in dozens of films. They're called archetypes for a reason people! Rounding out the guys cast is Christopher Mintz-Plasse playing Duffy, who gets one good line in the movie...and it is a damned good one. Seems to be the only reason they cast him, because they really don't use him in this. Also, in one short scene, we get Andy Samberg playing Van, and it's a scene I will call the least annoying thing I have ever seen him do.
This was a great flick, at times a bit predictable, especially if you know the least bit about foreshadowing, but still...a great flick. The soundtrack is period specific, but doesn't use many of the bigger bands from the time (Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden). Brandy's type A, very anal retentive personality will drive you crazy if you know the type of person, and you can't help but laugh at her. In a special feature, Maggie Carey talks about how she grew up on John Hughes movies, and she set out to make a coming of age sex comedy from the girl's point of view. Mission accomplished, and well done. If you're a fan of raunchy grossout comedies as well as sex comedies, but with a heart, this one is for you.
One last thing: The cover of the DVD. There are two perfectly good movie posters that I've found, and they could have used either one. The choice of the VERY generic cover is really odd.
DVD Features:
The Re-Do List (Gag Reel)
Maggie Carey: Directing Her To Do List
Dirty Mouth: Naughty Word Montage
Deleted and Extended Scenes
Commentary with Bill Hader and Director Maggie Carey
Read more reviews from Tom here.
- Lena
No comments:
Post a Comment