Aubrey Plaza’s Extremely R-Rated Summer Comedy Is A Crash Course In Total Debauchery

By Robert Scucci
| Published 6 seconds ago

My mileage varies when it comes to the raunchy summer sex comedy that’s geared toward younger adults. Mainly because I’m 38, and I grew up during that sweet spot when films like Road Trip, American Pie, and Van Wilder were dominating the cultural zeitgeist. I still occasionally check them out because I have kids of my own, who will one day start watching movies like this behind my back, and I kind of want to know what’s out there. More importantly, though, secret bangers like 2018’s The Package make their rounds and remind me that the part of my brain that’s still stuck in eighth grade will never grow up.

Sometimes, a solid boner comedy is all you need to get through a rough week, and the reason I checked out 2013’s The To Do List wasn’t necessarily because of its premise, but rather its cast. Aubrey Plaza and Donald Glover share screen time, which I know works because Mystery Team (2009) proved the concept, but there’s also Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, and, yes, even McLovin’ (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) added to the mix to make for the kind of raunchy comedy that screams Superbad, but with a female protagonist, portrayed by Plaza in one of her more unhinged feature-length roles.

The talent alone makes The To Do List worth your time, but in this case, the whole feels like less than the sum of its parts. There were moments when I found myself scream laughing, but they were few and far between. Had I actually caught this movie when it came out, I would have been 25, and by extension, more receptive to the humor being presented here. As I approach middle age, however, I’d only recommend this movie to my peers for some of its isolated moments, and honestly, a YouTube sizzle reel crash course of the best moments is probably all you really need from this movie.

Checking Off All The Boxes

In The To Do List, Aubrey Plaza is Brandy Klark, the valedictorian of her graduating class. The movie is set in 1993, so she idolizes Hillary Clinton and her pantsuits. As you would expect, such a young overachiever isn’t exactly a social butterfly, so she’s pretty much awkward on all fronts. Her older sister, Amber (Rachel Bilson), is more experienced when it comes to courting the opposite sex, but she’s not exactly the kind of person to divulge her trade secrets about her sexual exploits.

The real conflict comes in the form of Rusty Waters (Scott Porter), the badass, guitar-playing dude whose abs glisten in the sun like water reflecting off a pristine, undisturbed body of water, which we only know because he’s shirtless whenever he gets a chance to be. Brandy wants to lose her virginity to Rusty, but the problem is that she literally knows nothing about sex. It doesn’t help that her father, George (Clark Gregg), is a judge and a prude, making him the worst possible person to talk to about these things, even though her mother, Jean (Connie Britton), frequently hints that she was quite wild when she was her daughter’s age.

Brandy gets a job at the local pool where Rusty works under the supervision of Willy McLean (Bill Hader), the manager who seemingly lives in the locker rooms and is known for hazing the newbies. Realizing that Rusty is way out of her league, Brandy, the academic that she is, comes up with the ultimate to do list of sexcapades that she feels she needs to accomplish before approaching Rusty with romantic intent.

She “practices” on her study buddy who’s secretly in love with her, Cameron (Johnny Simmons), as well as her friends, Duffy (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and Derrick (Donald Glover), which culminates in a steamy shower scene involving local rocker Van King (Andy Samberg) as she attempts to get close to Rusty. Meanwhile, Rusty witnesses her increasingly erratic behavior from afar, not knowing what to make of the entire situation. But with each thrust, kiss, slurp, and every other unwholesome activity she has on her to-do list, Brandy keeps her eyes on the prize, absolutely confident that she’s going to finally go all the way with Rusty.

We’ve Already Seen This Movie Before

My biggest gripe with The To Do List is that it’s stuffed to the gills with talent. Bill Hader steals every single scene he’s in because he’s trying to be an authority figure but also wants to be popular, making him constantly at odds with himself. Aubrey Plaza and Rachel Bilson nail the sibling dynamic with the same level of efficacy as Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal in Donnie Darko, and their bickering, which almost always feels like an afterthought, is what made me laugh the most.

The sex humor, if I’m being entirely honest, was what I liked least about the movie. It’s not that I’m a prude or easily offended, but more of a “been there, done that” kind of scenario. It’s American Pie with a female lead, 14 years too late. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned about coming-of-age raunchy comedies, it’s that they need to ante up with the times. The Package is a perfect example of how to escalate the genre. Nobody’s trying to get laid for the first time because there’s a bigger problem, namely one of the protagonists accidentally chopping off his wiener while trying to slice through his pee stream with his new switchblade.

That said, if you’re a fan of the talent roster that’s jammed into The To Do List, you’ll have heaps of fun spending time with these characters. If you’re expecting a raunchy summer comedy that pushes the envelope past the point of comfort, you’re not really going to find that here.

As of this writing, you can stream The To Do List for free on Tubi. It’s solid if you don’t watch a ton of these movies and aren’t used to the humor. But if you’ve been around the block with boner comedies of yesteryear, this one’s just more of the same.