The To Do List Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

The To Do List Blu-ray Movie Review

How's that for a double entendre?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 9, 2013

Sexual desire, sexual oddities, sexual frustrations, sexual ineptitude, and sexual ignorance have long been staples of the Comedy genre, staples that rose to their peak of prominence in the fan-favorite American Pie series. The To Do List strives to recreate that magic through its depiction of a virgin teenager who makes it her life's (well, her summer's) mission to not only have sex, but to engage in a variety of sexual activities. And somehow, they actually managed to make a movie out of that. In real life, she could no doubt find somebody to just go straight on down her list with her in about five minutes, but the adventure is drawn out to feature length in Writer/Director Maggie Carey's first major film assignment. Make no mistake about it, this isn't a movie that will play well with conservative America or audiences who take a more traditional view towards sexual relationships. It'll also likely upset audiences who don't approve of its near endless fondling of Hillary Clinton, either from a purely ideological and political perspective or simply from gross overload. On the flip side, more progressive audiences will likely enjoy the verbally graphic but somewhat visually restrained (no real T&A) journey through the sexual transformation of a college-bound brainiac.

Guarding everything but her virginity.

Brandy Klark (Aubrey Plaza) is a 1993 Boise, Idaho high school graduate and part-time lifeguard who took the top academic ranking in her class. She's highly intelligent, involved in all of the smart people clubs and activities, and earned a full scholarship to Georgetown. And nobody cares. All her friends and classmates see is a pathetic virgin, an outsider who has shunned sex in favor of hitting the books. Even her sister Amber (Rachel Bilson) sees fit to have fun with her lack of sexual experience and bookworm lifestyle. The only people who accept Brandy are her friends Fiona (Alia Shawkat) and Wendy (Sarah Steele). They do egg her on, a bit, and take her to a hip-and-happening graduation party. There, she catches sight of Rusty Waters (Scott Porter) and it's as if she's opened her eyes for the first time in life. She feels an instant attraction and remains at the party, imbibes too much alcohol, and is left in a bedroom to sleep it off. Before she passes out, Rusty walks into the darkened room and begins to passionately kiss her. Brandy's drunken fantasy turns sour when Rusty realizes his mistake and leaves in search of his girlfriend.

When Brandy shares the story with her friends, they're shocked at her level of sexual inexperience and ignorance. Brandy struggles with terminology and sexual theory in even causal conversation. They warn her against starting college as a sexually ignorant freshman and the devastating blow to her psyche that's sure to follow. Suddenly, Brandy's life takes on an entirely new purpose. She tackles her lack of sexual understanding as if preparing for an exam. She engages in deep research and even finds a bit of advice from her open-minded mother (Connie Britton), much to the chagrin of her conservative father (Clark Gregg). Brandy creates a list of sexual activities she'd like to perform and have performed on her over the course of the summer, a list that's so varied that even her friends find on it activities they have not yet experienced. Her ultimate goal is to lose her virginity to Rusty, but before going all the way she decides to circle the bases and experience the pleasures of the flesh with a number of partners, including longtime guy friend Cameron (Johnny Simmons), in the name of preparing her, physically and emotionally, for the big event.

Though the idea of a "sexual bucket list" for an incoming college freshman might be somewhat original, the rest of the movie doesn't really explore any new territory. There are all sorts of classic genre standbys at play, from the fumbling sexual encounters to the family member walking in on a sex act. It's all been done before, and it's been done with more passion, flair, heart, and humor. The To Do List feels rather soulless in style and story both. It never finds a personal identity and doesn't exude that classic-in-the-making sensation that the better films in the genre enjoyed upon release. Much of the problem stems from a true lack of character construction. Brandy's transformation from nerd to sexual conquerer feels uninspired and unnatural and comes far too quickly given her initial characteristics. Beyond sketchy, plot-convenient motivations is the flippant attitude the film takes towards sex, which is sure to upset and offend a rather wide swath of potential viewers. Sex, and a number of sex acts, literally becomes something to check off a list, not experience in the context of love or even in-the-moment electricity. Brandy not-so-carefully and not-so-subtly forces the moment every time, which does generate a little bit of humor in the context of her inexperience and rush to become more experienced, but it comes across as both stale and meaningless. While the cast certainly tries to charm its way through the movie, it usually comes up empty due in large part to a flat script and clumsy situations. It's not a terrible watch on the surface, but forget about this becoming American Pie for the two-thousand-teens.

The To Do List Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The To Do List's 1080p transfer offers satisfying results. Sony's latest Blu-ray image provides a robust color palette throughout the film. Bright shades of green and yellow define the graduation robes seen at the beginning, while any number of additional colors throughout the film -- blue pool water, for instance -- appear robust and natural. Details are highly satisfying. The image proves naturally crisp and sharply defined. Those details aren't so exacting as to take on a seamless, tactile, real-life appearance, but image clarity is high and the transfer reveals clothing lines, facial textures, and objects all around the frame very well. Black levels and flesh tones appear even and natural. A touch of banding creeps into a couple of backgrounds, but there are no other major instances of visual snafus. This is a fairly average representation of a high quality, good-looking modern HD video-sourced Blu-ray.

The To Do List Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The To Do List arrives on Blu-ray with a happening DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Much of the movie is defined by its retro popular music. Listeners will enjoy some Spin Doctors, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, Naughty by Nature, Salt-N-Peppa, and MC Hammer (it's scary to think these artists and songs were big 20 years ago. TWENTY! Yikes...). The good news is that they all sound much better than they ever did on cassette. Spacing is excellent, the presentation is robust, clarity is great, and bass is fabulous. The movie is worth watching (or at least a listen) for nostalgia-hungry thirty-somethings who don't feel like digging through those old boxes full of music in the attic. On other fronts, the film is primarily a dialogue-driven experience. The spoken word enjoys prominent front-center placement and clarity. A few supportive sound effects and ambient elements drift in from time to time to better define the experience, and they are handled nicely. Nevertheless, this movie is all about music and dialogue, and Sony's track handles those like a boss.

The To Do List Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The To Do List's supplemental features include a commentary, deleted scenes, and a few short featurettes.

• Audio Commentary: Writer/Director Maggie Carey and Actor Bill Hader deliver an enjoyable track that's fairly light but also generally informative. They begin with a discussion of the opening sequence -- scrapped music and ideas and building the current title sequence -- and moving on to discuss general filmmaking insights, the cast, edits and cut scenes, character development, tales from the set, music, and more. Fans of the film will enjoy this track a good bit. With optional English and Spanish subtitles.
• Deleted and Extended Scenes (HD, 3:55): Driving to the Party Extended, I'm Sneaking Out, and New Computer.
• The Re-Do List (HD, 2:55): Outtakes from the shoot.
• Maggie Carey: Directing Her To Do List (HD, 3:00): The writer/director discusses the plot, the main character, inspirations, life on the set, and the cast.
• Dirty Mouth (HD, 2:07): A montage of foul and sexual language from the film.
• Previews: Additional Sony titles.
• UV Digital Copy.

The To Do List Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The To Do List finds a few moments of genuine humor but comes across as a stale, wishy-washy female-perspective wannabe American Pie. The performances don't inspire (but don't destroy the movie, either) and the removal of all emotion from sex is sure to not sit well with a substantial viewing population. Add an excess of Hillary Clinton fawning and the movie is destined to become a love/hate sort that will alienate much of middle America. Sony's Blu-ray release of The To Do List offers typically great video and audio alongside a fair assortment of extras. More liberal audiences will probably enjoy the movie while more conservative audiences will probably want to stay away.