To Do List, The MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +1 Content: -4

Aubrey Plaza, Johnny Simmons, Bill Hader. Coming-of-sexual-age raunchy comedy. Written & directed by Maggie Carey.

FILM SYNOPSIS: Feeling pressured to become more sexually experienced before she goes to college, Brandy Clark makes a list of erotic sexual activities to accomplish before hitting campus in the fall.

PREVIEW REVIEW: What Bridesmaids did for 30-something female raunch lovers, The To Do List does for girl teens who sneak into R-rated movies. While it has some heart, the blood that pumps this production is bad, as in crude to the max. It’s not just a movie that exploits vulgarity. It also demonstrates the casualness of sex in today’s society. No room is made for those who stand against promiscuity due to religious convictions. Rather, it’s stressed throughout the picture that sex is no big deal so long as you use a condom.

I remember seeing a film once where rats were discovered aboard a ship. The captain stopped at an uninhabited island, slathered the mooring ropes with rotted meat and waited until the rats exited the boat, making their way into the island jungle. As the ship sailed off, one of the crew said, “I’d sure hate to come back here in twenty years.” That’s kind of how I feel about what’s happening to our nation. The society has become nearly as crude, hedonistic and lacking in morality as it can become. Imagine what twenty more years will do. Or, perhaps you think the denizens of Hollywood will change their ways, and start to lift up the culture at some point.

I’m not sure who the targeted audience is supposed to be: teens who sneak into an R-rated movie; concerned parents who want to know what the younger generation is up to; dirty old men who like hearing teenage girls talk dirty?

I found nothing remotely arousing about this film (guess I’m not a dirty old man, after all). It saddened me that there are no biblical standards associated with sexuality in today’s media culture. The big lesson learned by film’s end - sex is no big deal.

I’d like to offer up Clueless as a DVD alternative. It is far funnier and it does a better job at satirizing the shallowness of youth. (The To Do List seems to celebrate shallowness.) Alas, Clueless does contain some bawdy sexual humor that occasionally becomes crass. So, I better not recommend it.

I have no children so I hesitate to offer any suggested dialogue between parent and child. But from everything I’ve heard, it is important that a young girl get a sense of herself and a respect for her body by how her father treats her. Maybe it isn’t about having a discussion. Maybe it’s about being a good dad that will help a girl grow into a good woman.

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: CBS Films