The Life List (currently available on Netflix) is the sort of film you’d come across as a promotional bonus after mailing in three proof-of-purchase seals from boxed wine packaging. That might sound like a jab, and I can’t argue with that sentiment. Nevertheless, it’s the truth. It’s a polished yet tender dramedy revolving around themes of loss, love, and self-discovery, only a few four-letter words short of being classified as a Hallmark feature. However, this doesn’t imply that the movie is bad! It might be perfectly acceptable within its own restrained scope! That could ALSO be valid! Based on Lori Nelson Spielman’s bestselling novel, The Life List showcases Sofia Carson as a mildly lost young woman tasked with achieving a series of goals she listed at the age of 13 to claim her mother’s inheritance. The narrative is thankfully more nuanced than that brief summary suggests.

The Gist: Let’s elucidate “wayward”: Alex (Carson) is romantically involved with a guy working in a record store (calling that out immediately is a bit offensive; not the best start, movie). She was unjustly removed from her position as a teacher and now fills in at her makeup mogul mother Elizabeth’s (Connie Britton) company, a definite case of nepotism. She often finds herself staring longingly out windows and into mirrors, seemingly searching for something elusive. What might that be, you ask? HERSELF, naturally! These behaviors suggest she’s merely existing rather than truly embracing life. During her sister-in-law’s baby shower, Alex fidgets uncomfortably, aware of everyone quietly judging Record Store Clerk Guy (despite his intentions to develop a video game, so let’s pocket those assumptions about him being a slacker). She observes the judgmental glances and perceives everyone else as having their lives together while she feels out of place. But here’s the truth, sister: No one has it all figured out! Everyone’s just managing! Occasionally, you achieve something significant, and sometimes you simply coast along. And that’s perfectly fine! Believe me!

Then, the unexpected hits: Catherine embraces Alex and reveals, “It’s back.” The illness has returned, and the available treatment isn’t worthwhile. Mere minutes pass before the scene transitions from Catherine and Alex holding each other, to Alex alone in a black dress, preparing to attend the wake downstairs. She, along with her brothers Julian (Federico Rodriguez) and his wife Catherine (Rachel Zeiger-Haag), and Lucas (Dario Ladani Sanchez) with his wife Zoe (Marianne Rendon), gather at the lawyer’s office for the reading of the will. Perhaps it’s just me, but doesn’t the junior non-partner handling the documentation, Brad (Kyle Allen), seem rather charming? He certainly does. However, what he discloses isn’t ideal for Alex. Despite leading her mom’s marketing department, she doesn’t inherit control of the company as she anticipated. In fact, she essentially loses her job and must complete The Life List, a set of objectives she wrote at age 13, which remain unfulfilled. She has one year. Only then will she receive her inheritance, which remains a mystery until she marks off all the items.

But wait. There has to be some cutesy gimmick layered into the regular gimmick, right? That’s a bingo: Every time Alex completes one of the goals, Brad gives her a DVD video Elizabeth made espousing wisdom and knowledge from BEYOND the GRAVE. (Note, more screen time for Connie Britton is never a bad thing.) What’s on the list, then? Silly stuff like “get a tattoo” or “lose yer freakin’ mind in a mosh pit,” but also nigh-impossible stuff like “be a great teacher,” “make up with Dad” and “find true love.” And the first order of business is to drop Record Store Guy (Michael Rowland) so he can yell desperately out the window as she’s moving out in his Lloyd Dobl- wait, no, Rob Gordon, it’s definitely his Rob Gordon moment. Then she sets up in Elizabeth’s house and gets to work. Brad is a sweet dude who helps her and endears himself to her, and she also meets and starts dating sophisticated hunk Garrett (Sebastian De Souza), and if you’re sensing a third-act whoozitgonnabe, well, you’re on the right track. And so Alex reads Moby Dick and finds a teaching gig and takes piano lessons and meets up with her dad (Jose Zuniga) and learns some family secrets, etc., etc., hopefully becoming far less wayward as she goes, just as her dear sweet saintly mother planned.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: The Life List is like Eat Pray Love if the eater/prayer/lover never leaves New York City. 

Performance Worth Watching: Connie Britton: true professional. Can make corny stuff palatable with ease.

Memorable Dialogue: “I didn’t even know there were record stores anymore!” – some charlatan of an ancillary character

Sex and Skin: Sorry, there’s nothing hotter here than a little horizontal smooching.

Our Take: Can someone make the list a bit shorter, please? Lop off a coupla bullet points? The Life List absolutely doesn’t need to push past the two-hour mark, because it doesn’t have anything to say that can’t be summed up within the confines of a sign you’d see in the home-decor aisle at Hobby Lobby, like I sure do like coffee or if you sprinkle when you tinkle be a sweetie and wipe the seatie. It’s dangerously close to being Live Laugh Love: The Movie. But I was grateful that the characters here are easy to hang out with, like a nice neutral-beige wallpaper or a print of a pastoral scene by Thomas Kinkade, Painter of Light. 

I go hard at this movie because it’s cutesy, tends to be simplistic in its life lessons, and might’ve been written by the karmic hand of the Late Character Played By Connie Britton, considering how Alex’s success hinges on contrivance and coincidence. But The Life List might erode your defenses, as it did mine, at least enough to make it palatable; it’s inoffensive without being offensively inoffensive, and features many nicely executed comedio-dramatic moments from its large supporting cast.

The ever-endearing former Disney Channel staple Carson is capable of bearing the load of its light comedy and middleweight drama, even when the character written for her is about a quarter-shade shy of being a recognizable three-dimensional human being. Crucially, the film tips more toward the drama portion of dramedy via Alex’s assertion of her goals — she isn’t jumping through hoops just for material rewards, but because she understands the wisdom her mother espouses. Carson’s easygoing chemistry with Allen just might win you over, and she churns up some relatable emotions that feel more like tangible expressions of fear, sadness and self-doubt than overwrought means of manipulating our tear ducts. When it comes down to it, this is a movie about working through grief by working on yourself, a sentiment that ultimately grows a hair too big for a Hobby Lobby plaque. That’s a good thing.

Our Call: Despite its packaging, boxed wine isn’t always undrinkable swill. STREAM IT.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.