The To Do List

What separates this coming-of-age comedy about a high school kid discovering sex from countless others is that it is presented entirely from the perspective of a teenage girl. Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) stars as class valedictorian Brandy, a straitlaced, somewhat snooty, brainy girl who suddenly becomes concerned by the fact that she has no experience with boys or sex. With the help of her best friends she makes a list of sexual experiences to have during her last summer before heading off to college. Number one on the list is a dumb-blonde hunk (Scott Porter) who also works at the public pool where Brandy is employed. The To Do List is set in 1993, which gives filmmaker Maggie Carey plenty of opportunity to have fun with the nostalgia of the age before Internet searches (Brandy has to look up every sexual term she encounters in encyclopedias and dictionaries, which adds to the comic confusion). While the female perspective is refreshing, this is still a rather clumsy and not particularly clever adolescent comedy without much insight into the joys, complications, and expectations of sex. So despite a good supporting cast that includes Bill Hader, Rachel Bilson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Andy Samberg, and Donald Glover, with Connie Britton and Clark Gregg as Brandy's parents, this is not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by costar Bill Hader and director Maggie Carey, deleted and extended scenes (4 min.), an interview with Carey (3 min.), a gag reel (3 min.), a “Dirty Mouth” montage (2 min.), trailers, and a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing film.] (S. Axmaker)