‘The To Do List’ Review Roundup: Critics Either Love It Or Hate It

The To Do List stars Aubrey Plaza as awkward and sexually inexperienced 18-year-old Brandy Klark the summer in between her senior year in high school and her freshman year in college. While spending most of her high school days with her nose in a book and ultimately earning the honor of valedictorian, she missed out on a lot of “activities.” With the help of her older sister (Rachel Bilson), best pals (Alia Shawkat, Sarah Steele) and boss (Bill Hader), Brandy sets off to check some off her list.

Written and directed by Maggie Carey, the raunchy all-star comedy gives Plaza the chance to star in a narrative mostly dominated in film by the male sex. While the general consensus of female-driven buddy-cop comedy The Heat was that it succeeded in making it work, critics seem less sure about The To Do List.

“Sure, The To Do List doesn’t reinvent the wheel; we all know the “summer that changed everything” trope. But it’s startling when you realize how rare it is to see a girl chasing sexual experience so doggedly — and with such a lighthearted tone. […] Furthermore, it’s unbelievably heartening (and, again, rare) to see a female protagonist so devoid of self-loathing. Even in the midst of her most awkward moments, Brandy has a core of confidence that makes her, as far as I’m concerned, a new icon.” – Sarah Stewart, New York Post

"The To Do List is a romantic comedy with no romance and little comedy, but with an ugliness of spirit that's surprising and unrelenting. Almost everyone in the movie is mean, selfish and spiteful, which might have been interesting, except that writer-director Maggie Carey seems to think they're swell, or the norm, or funny. The protagonist is horrible. Her sister is horrible. Her friends are horrible. And when she gets a job, her boss is horrible. Not funny horrible, just horrible.” – Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

“Over the course of the movie, the humor quotient ebbs and flows. Scenes at a local pool where Brandy works go from silly, time-killing pranks to stupidly gross, with unfunny quips about flatulence, vomit and consumption of human waste. A recurring jest about Brandy's breast size also falls flat. A message about the importance of establishing an emotional connection — rather than focusing on a clinical checklist — feels clumsily tacked on, then contradicted, then thrown back in for good measure. With its uneven humor, The To Do List doesn't fully live up to what it sets out to accomplish.” – Claudia Puig, USA Today

“This movie is smarter and better acted and just plain funnier than most of its predecessors in the my-first-time genre, no matter which sex is losing what. […]Male teenagers have been losing their virginity in movies for years, but the female version of the same story has been less common, and having a woman (Maggie Carey) as both writer and director sets “The To Do List” even further apart. But the sensibility that makes this movie work so well doesn’t seem so much feminine as simply intelligent.” – Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times

The To Do List, rated R, is currently in wide release. Connie Briton, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Clark Gregg also star.

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