Porky’s.  Fast Times at Ridgemont High.  Weird Science.  Stealing Beauty.  American Pie.  If there’s one thing a hollywood studio loves more than a money-making action blockbuster, it’s a movie about kids trying to get it on.  But most of the time it’s the guys that are desperately trying to shed their V-card.  In The To-Do List, it’s a straight-laced A student that realizes her college experience — she’s headed to smart student capital Georgetown U, natch — will be sorely lacking if she doesn’t put a few other things on her CV.  Like a [Censored].  And also, she’ll need to [Radio Edit], maybe after she [Bleep]’s.  But like any studious nerd, she’s gonna do her research, make a list, and then get down to bidness.  Though there are plenty of laughs and a ton of shout-outs to high school in the 90s (Trapper Keepers, y’all!)  The To-Do List forgot to check one thing off it’s list; a main character that has a bit of depth.  Instead, you’ve got a very talented gal (Brandy Klark, played by Aubrey Plaza) ticking off all the boxes, but no real reason to give two hoots beyond the obvious sight gags.  Cool if you’re just looking for laughs, but after awhile the one-joke premise wears a little thin.

To be honest, I didn’t put together where I’d seen Aubrey Plaza before, since in this film she plays a newly graduated teenager.  But I had seen her before, as a grown-up, on Parks and Recreation, where she’s absolutely hilarious.  Phew.  That gets the whole awkward “hey, don’t I know you” thing out of the way.  Slap a pair of glasses and some seriously high-waisted shorts on the girl, and she’s definitely got the youthful vibe to pull of a high school valedictorian.  Nicely done, considering the chica is almost 30.  I bow to your Dorian Gray-ness, dear lady.  (Note: the fact that the “kids” in this film are all played by folks in their no-longer-teenage years is a tip of the hat to the teen films of the 70s and 80s, where teens were usually played by fully grown adults.  Grease, anyone?)

By the time The To-Do List gets halfway through it’s run time (as of press time the exact time isn’t known, but it hovers around the hour and a half mark) I started rooting for more screen time from Mr. and Mrs. Klark, played by Clark Gregg (The Avengers) and Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights).  Their subplot — which I won’t spoil here but has to do with Mrs. Klark’s open minded attitude — is the one I found intriguing, mostly because their characters felt like more than a single idea.  Amber’s BFFs, played by Sarah Steele and Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat, are also well fleshed out for supporting roles.  But then Shawkat plays the wise-beyond-years teen perfectly.  Shout-out to Rachel Bilson for slumming as Amber Klark, Brandy’s slutty older sis.  Blink and you’ll miss Andy Samberg, but his self-involved grunge wannabe superstar is spot-on.  And I can only hope that Bill Hader gets more after his SNL glory than this watered down Bill-Murray-In-Meatballs role as Willy the pool manager.  Hader can pull off just about anything and be funny, but this role is beneath his talents.  Somewhere, in a club made entirely of used HEPA filters and helium balloons, Stefon is crying.

Plaza does a great job with Brandy, but there’s only so much that can be done with a character that starts out a robotic and unlikeable virgin and ends up taking a trip to Slutville without so much as a twinge of conscience.  It would have been nice to see her struggle with a few of her items, or at least grow into ennui.  The idea of a girl becoming (or being known as) easy was done much better by Emma Stone in Easy A.  Granted, Easy A wasn’t trotted out as a cult-film-to-be, as this film obviously is.  Still, more character development, even in this dirty-girl comedy, would have done wonders.

The soundtrack is, quite simply, awesome.  I’ve had most of these little numbers on my iPod for years, and quite a few are still on heavy rotation.  I’m looking at you, “Pour Some Sugar On Me” , “Laid” and “Break It Down Again”.  Then again, the entire film plays like a love letter to the early 90s, with tons of faddish references.  Hypercolor, scrunchies (which I still wear, don’t judge), gel pens, midriff tops, grunge and shouderpads…it’s like a Who’s Who of embarrassment.  And it’s glorious.  My favorite little bit of prop wonder had to be the bottle of Apple Pucker the girls start chugging at a graduation party.  Ahh, memories.  Stomach-turning, never-doing-that-again memories.

As I mentioned earlier, The To-Do List definitely has the feel of a movie that wants to become a cult favorite.  Only time will tell if it succeeds.  For now, it’s a gross/hilarious trip down memory lane for some, and a bit of icky fun for others.  Just put your brain on it’s Teen Movie setting, and you’ll do just fine.