Let's face it, people. Within every
group of friends, everybody's going to get stereotyped, even when
they don't notice it. The leader, the handsome guy, the brute, the
dork, the hot chick, each one of these characterizations and more are
there. And today, we take a look at a film that talks about that,
like most films about high school. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you
“The DUFF.”
In this modern day high school
setting, we follow Bianca Piper, a student who is excellent in her
work, has great friends, but only gets to attend parties because of
them. It's then that her neighbor, Wesley, points out that she's the
DUFF of her group, which means “Designated, Ugly, Fat, Friend.”
With this thought filling her mind constantly, Bianca then leaves her
friends, and asks Wesley to make her go from DUFF to hottie for a guy
she likes before homecoming.
It's as cliché as it sounds, and
that's a pretty weak point of this film. We know where these
scenarios go, we know what plot points they'll hit, and we know how
it's going to end. Not going to say exactly what it is that happens,
but if you know what I'm talking about, then you're right.
Robbie Amell, who you may know as
Firestorm on “The Flash,” plays Wes. He's the charming boy next
door and the mentor who tries to change the main character into
something she's not, but ends up being the love interest, which he
manages to play relatively well. Not that in depth, but he does a
good job. His girlfriend and villain of the film, Madison,
is played by Bella Throne. Like you would expect, she's the bitch who
thinks she's better than everyone automatically because she's the
popular one, and...it's pretty boring. I give credit that Throne was
doing well, but she doesn't really take advantage of what she could
do with this character or add a new spin to it.
I also didn't find much done with the
best friends played by Bianca Santos and Skyler Samuels. They're
fine, it's just that I wish they did more with them, since a good
majority of the film doesn't feature them. Then we get to Bianca's
crush, Toby, played by Nick Eversman. Much like with other films
about high school crushes, we barely get to know his character, aside
from the fact that he's complete bullshit. That's pretty much all I
can say about him, since there's nothing else to this character,
aside from being a plot device.
But aside from it being very
predictable, does that make the film bad? No, of course not. Like
I've said before, even when something is cliché, I can still enjoy
it if the film has some likability, mostly from our main lead. Bianca
is played by Mae Whitman, best known for her work as Katara on
“Avatar: The Last Airbender,” and Mary Elizabeth from “The
Perks of Being A Wallflower.” She's charming, she's quirky, and she
really knows how to dabble into different emotions when the shots
call for it. People have criticized her for not really being fat and
ugly as the title would suggest, but the film actually makes that
clear to the audience that ANYONE can be designated as a DUFF. Hell,
I know from retrospect that I can be considered one.
Not only that, but the film has a
pretty good sense of humor, mostly from Bianca and Wes working off of
each other. They do have their moments of witty dialogue, and there
were times I did laugh out loud. I mean, where else can you find a
film that has a scene in which they parody 70's porno...and yes, that
does happen in the movie. I also enjoyed some of the somber moments
that the film took, which did feel genuine despite its
predictability.
Overall, “The DUFF” isn't a
ground-breaking work of cinema, but it's no where near horrible. Our
main character is likable, the jokes are funny enough, and it is
harmless enough for teenagers to give a watching towards. Would I
want to see it again? Maybe if it was playing on TV and there was
nothing else on, then I would give it my time again. Give it a watch,
and maybe you'll think differently than what I did.
Rating: 7/10
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.........................Okay, since you were patient:
There, you happy now?
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