Amy's F-It List

This is a sleeper that was well steered by its Director Mark S. Allen. Sometimes you encounter these little indie films coming out of backwater cities that create a sense of place. We have seen it with the Pacific Northwest where everything is rainy and grainy. We have seen it with the Deep South where everything is down home and steamy. What about Sacramento - a flat place with a river and a bridge?

This film uses lots of drone shots to get above the flatlands and give Amy's life some welcome dimension. It throws in some obvious CGI clouds above the horizon and let's us all resonate with goofy Zoom calls.

Once you get past all these low budget choices, what you are left with are the strength of the characters in this fable. First and foremost. Alyson Gorske as Amy has a winning attitude (similar to a young Jennifer Aniston) that makes you want to pull for her even as she faces insurmountable news about her mortality. Her sister Mary (played with empathy by Ms Taylor) inhabits her role much more than the average sidekick in a zany comedy. Mary springs into companionship when Amy's fate is revealed and, even though her first pregnancy is a topic to be considered, the movie keeps the focus on Amy and her final redemption. Finally, there is a roster of character roles that color this production upside, downside, left and right side. I had that same feeling of being introduced to funny people as I was watching the Princess Bride movie. Somehow the obvious lack of slickness works to propel the story along.

So here's the concept. A 25-yr-old lady working as a dollar store employee has an episode at work, she sees a doctor, she gets the bad news. She has a brain tumor, a Glioblastoma, and she will die in three days. (In reality the condition is NOT that deadly for an otherwise healthy person.) So she decides, with the encouragement of her sister, to make her F-it list (rhymes with bucket list). But the first five are trivial things, like the people who use the phone when in line, or mistaken fast food orders, or the people who bring 20 items to the 5 item line, or misbehavior at the school drop off lane. And she eats cake and ice cream for breakfast instead of healthier oatmeal.

Number six on her list is a big one but we have no hint of it until, literally, the last minute of the movie. Most of the movie seems to just be killing time, like the several slow conversations with her sister, or between her pregnant sister and her husband.

The actresses who play the two sisters are very capable, Alyson Gorske as the dying girl, Amy Taylor. And Angel Prater as her pregnant sister, Mary Taylor. The plot also contains a scheme to get back $300,000 that they considered "stolen" from them by a businessman. But truthfully, the script is awful, sophomoric, several scenes are played out in a cartoonish manner.

No, not a good movie at all. Filmed in the year 2000 during COVID time, much of it in Sacramento and nearby cities. I watched it streaming on Amazon Prime.

The two leads were pleasant enough to watch. They have more talent than this movie deserves. Story just never really engaged me. I did hang in & watched til the end hoping for some kind of a positive ending. Did not happen. A few funny scenes, but more cringy ones than entertaining ones. Seems like it got to the end and the writer didn't know how to tie it up with an ending that was plausible, so they threw in a last minute "twist" that made even less sense than the rest of the movie. Seems like too many of these kinds of movies showing up anymore. Guess just about anyone can make a movie now days whether the story makes any sense or not. One last thing. Most of the actors in this cannot act at all and the writer must think that the use of the big "F" word makes their acting better. It doesn't.

So I now have a crush on Alyson Gorske after watching Obliterated on Netflix, so now I am obligated to watch everything she has ever been in. Amy's F-it List has a premise that could go in a lot of directions and I had no idea going in what kind of tone this movie would have. I expected a light hearted drama which seems like what they were aiming for, but it misses the mark

For a brief synopsis, basically our heroine is living a dead end life after the death of her father when she finds out she has a terminal brain tumor, so she and her sister go on a quest to check off her f it list. From the moment the list is introduced everything just feels rushed and nothing is given the weight it should have given the circumstances involved. The moments that should be funny just come off as corny and the moments that should be heart wrenching just feel like nothing. There's no weight to the subject matter. Much like Amy, it feels like the film makers had a list of scenes to get through, but not enough to connect them and better understand the characters. It doesn't evoke any emotion for the heavy subject matter

This feels like a rough draft of a better movie. Honestly this seemed like a movie I could have seen in the 90s. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the direction, script, and acting all do not seem in line with modern film making and cultural sensibilities. One egregious example is the final list item that is just sort of thrown in like an after thought when it should be a huge all encompassing topic. I think we are supposed to surmise that this is the reason Amy's life goes off track, but the whole movie pins this on her father's death, so it just doesn't work and feels like a cheap ploy to shock the audience

Alyson Gorske and Angel Prater who plays her sister are fine actors, they just didn't have the right ingredients to make this work. It all just comes off as a senior year film studies project. However, I like the idea and think it could work in a more refined movie, and given my new crush on Gorske I can't give this less than a 5. If you have nothing else to watch on a Sunday afternoon it might help you pass the time while scrolling on your phone and folding laundry.

"Amy's 'Eff It List" is an ambitious comedy with lots to say, especially as it cruises along to it's interesting conclusion. Also, this film isn't easily classified, because the are so many concepts presented throughout. But it's mostly about the freedoms one may consider taboo when someone has all the time in the world, but are FAR from taboo when there are only a few days left on this earth. As I watched, I asked myself and my wife about the things we might do if we ever discovered we had an acutely terminal illness. It was with great interest that I discovered there is a HUGE difference in perspective between genders, and this film shows what a woman might consider. Some things were totally apropos, others...not so much. Some of the concepts stick, others are a little more obtuse or perhaps out of place, but this film definitely has its own viewpoint, and if there are any real gripes or misgivings about the broad range of the story, the performances more than make up for that. The film is shot and directed well, and there were good laughs to be had throughout...which to me, makes for a successful comedy. 3 1/2 stars.