The To-Do List. Written and directed by Maggie Carey. Starring Aubrey Plaza, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Rachel Bilson. Rating: 7 (out of 10)
UNLIKE the wellchoreographed, well-lit trysts on movies and in TV-land, real-life sex is messy.
And new, uncertain sex is the most awkward. Brandy (Parks and Recreation's Aubrey Plaza) eschews all things awkward and messy: she has her life mapped out to a carefully executed T. So the minute she leaves her graduation ceremony - she's the valedictorian, of course - she starts making a list of what she'll need to do and buy before she enters Princeton in the fall. Like buying shower shoes, and watching Beaches.
But a darkened, mistakenidentity encounter with the hottest guy in town (Scott Porter) throws Brandy into a tizzy: she's a virgin, and she can't stand the thought of not having mastered sex before freshman year. With the advice of her older, sleazier sister (a very funny Rachel Bilson), Brandy draws up a new list, full of sexual mores to conquer, many of which she has to look up in the encyclopedia. (That's how we rolled pre-Google, kids.)
She takes a job at the local pool and discovers that Mr. Hottie himself, Rusty Waters, is also lifeguarding. Brandy makes it her mission to practise the sexual building blocks with her chemistry buddy Cameron (Johnny Simmons) with Rusty as the ultimate goal.
"Sometimes I think she likes me," says puppy-dog Cameron, "sometimes I think she's a robot."
It's one cringe-worthy moment after another as Brandy diligently checks things off her list, much to the surprise of her more experienced friends Fiona and Wendy (Alia Shawkat and Sarah Steele). The process is made all the funnier by Brandy's curious but clinical approach to the whole thing: apparently she has no shame (as in the movie theatre scene), just a can-do resolve.
The film is sure to be a hit with giggling teens but will resonate most with those of us who still have a scrunchie or two lurking in the back of the bathroom drawer. The film is full of early '90s fashions (one-strap overalls!), music (2 Live Crew, Tears for Fears, Gin Blossoms) and pop references ("You can't keep dressing like Tracy Gold!" admonishes Fiona).
The film bears more than a passing resemblance to films like Sixteen Candles (older, bitchy sister getting married to a dufus, nerds on the prowl) and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, though Phoebe Cates' exit from the pool was way hotter than Brandy's.
Bill Hader stars as the underachieving pool manager, who witnesses Brandy experience the most disgusting "Code Brown" incident in pool history; fellow SNL alum Andy Samberg engages in a somewhat musical sex act. Clark Gregg and Connie Britton are a riot as Brandy's parents, one of whom is horrified and one of whom is ready to offer advice and lubricant.
Brandy is prone to quoting Gloria Steinem and her role model, a fresh, pre-Lewinsky, Hilary Rodham Clinton. And in the end, girl power wins. There's a quick reference to the fact that Amber is willfully single for the first time ever, and Brandy sagely decides that sex is a big deal, sure, but not the be-all- end -all.
It's a sharp, coming-of-age comedy that gets the raunch-and-heart balance just right.
