Hearing the premise of this movie made me think this was going to be a She’s All That rip off and I was wrong. While the concept is similar, The DUFF is more enjoyable and realistic than the famous predecessor. This doesn’t mean that the film doesn’t have it’s faults but the good outweighs the small amounts of cringeworthy tropes and misunderstanding of teenage social media use.
The Main Story
Bianca (Mae Whitman) is a high school senor who smart, funny, is into obscure cult films and isn’t very fashionable. But her high school life changes after finds out that she is the DUFF (aka the Designated Ugly Fat Friend) of her group. She enlists the help of her neighbor, football team captain and manwhore Wes (Robbie Amell) to get rid of the DUFF title and become dateable.
Script and Cinematography
The movie’s DUFF concept is a spin that freshens the Ugly Girl trope of high school films. The film concept is hard to absorb at first since Mae Whitman is far from ugly (most people would say she’s cute). But the script explains this away quite nicely, with the male lead explains that she isn’t Ugly, she’s just not as “hot” as her best friends and this is true with other people in high schoo; every group has a DUFF. This is much better explanation than She’s All That covering up Rachael Leigh Cook with overalls, a ponytail, and glasses and calling her unfixable. They don’t try to hide Bianca (although she does wear the stereotypical “ugly girl” overalls). Instead they dress her down with comfortable clothing. You can see her as being a girl that people might not notice but can be beautiful by the end of the film.
The dialogue in this movie is fantastic. Mae Whitman and Robbie Amell deliver their banter with such sincerity and wit that you’re always waiting for their scenes. There are some great funny quips by supporting characters that get a couple of chuckles and keep in the film while you wait for the main characters.
Where the film really fails in it’s writing is it’s handling of social media and technology and pulling in some contrived plot points. There’s an awful explanation of technology when Bianca’s best friend (who’s conveniently a hacker) manages to take down a YouTube video through YouTube. This would have been believable if A) they established more of the character’s abilities and B) if they would have done it in a realistic manner by blocking YouTube off the school’s wifi. There are more moments like this that take away from the film.
There are also a couple of cringe worthy lines in the film, the most atrocious being two different scenes of a pair of extras looking at a video/article, turning to each other and saying “Viral” together. No one says this as if they are actively trying to make a video viral. But even after these incidents, the film does portray social media in a fun and semi-realistic manner. Its only when it is shoved into the script is when it fails.
Another problem with the film is the fact that it concentrates all of it’s focus on the main characters, which is great since the leads are so likable but left the supporting cast lacking any development. Even the main leads have some sloppy, quick development. For instance, Wes has a troubled home life that is only talked about for 5 minutes. That is very short for the second billing and for such a serious topic.
But the message is actually a good message. At the end of the film, Bianca explains that there's always going to be another person who is smarter, prettier, and better than you. You just have accept and love yourself and not care about what other people think. The message is corny and overdone but attached to this film and Whitman's performance, it works.
As far as cinematography, this film is shot like a modern high school/chick film. There’s no special shots or scenes but a high school comedy like this one doesn’t need anything fancy.
The Main Characters and The Romance
The lead characters are the driving force of this film for a good reason. Mae Whitman is amazing in the TV series Parenthood and in comedic roles in Arrested Development and Scott Pilgrim. Here, her comedic chops shine. She is incredibly smart and witty as Bianca but at the same time is impulsive and awkward without it feeling uncomfortable or forced. You believe this girl is someone who doesn’t get noticed. She likes people but she’s a bit awkward. She’s smart but not introverted, she just likes doing her own thing. So it’s no surprise that she can get along with her longtime neighbor Wes, who is equally witty and friendly.
Compared to Freddie Prince Jr. in She’s All That , Robbie Amell is much more relatable and likeable. Even though Wes is bribed with tutoring by Bianca, you can tell he actually cares about her and knows her. Although he’s not academically smart, he’s fun and friendly. Amell really pulls this role off and makes what would be an arrogant and conceited character very likable.
The romance is very believable. You actually want to see these characters together and work out even after high school. They make fun of each other, they compliment each other and they support one another. When Wes does something to offend or hurt Bianca, he tries to resolve it actively within 3 minutes of screen time. Even though you can tell these two characters don’t have everything in common, they are a perfect fit because both of them aren’t perfect and both are trying to break out of the societal roles people give them. The main leads are great and there’s a reason why 80% of the film focuses solely on them.
Supporting Characters
The marketing of this film is off base. There are numerous movie posters that include characters that barely have 10 minutes of screen time. All of the supporting characters are there to drive the plot or the main characters together in the least developed way possible. Only the villain, Madison, gets enough screen time to have a personality (though a very one-dimesional one). Bella Thorne does a fine job as bitchy, popular, wannabe YouTube star Madison. Madison is in an on-and-off relationship with Wes and is just a straight up horrible girl. The character is bitchy and you hate her but it doesn’t bring in anything special. She has no real motivation and there’s no real reason for her to be as big of a bitch as the film makes her out to be.
Allison Janney plays Bianca’s mother, Dottie, and she’s very underused like the rest of the supporting cast. Janney has done funny minor roles before and in this, she just plays a divorced mother that comes in at the end to encourage her daughter. Nothing special.
The most forced characters of this film are Bianca’s best friends, Casey (Bianca A. Santos) and Jess (Skyler Samuels) who are just in the film to drive the plot and take care of minor details. Their characters are explained quickly at the beginning of the film and put aside so fast it creates a whiplash. Casey is a soccer star and a hacker and Jess is a Buddhist and a fashionista and that’s it. There’s nothing else established by these two besides they’re childhood friends with Bianca and their convenient use for the plot.
Ken Jeong, Chris Wylde, and Romany Malco all play minor comedic roles as high school teachers and the principal respectively. They’re nothing special and play out their parts well.
Last Opinion
Overall, The DUFF is a good comedic movie with some major flaws. The film focuses on their fantastic leads but is severely underdeveloped in it’s supporting characters. Most of the dialogue is funny and heartfelt but there are moments when you can tell the writer doesn’t understand technology or teenagers and the script suffers from high school movie tropes. I give this film 6.5/10. The film knows it’s strengths and plays them up to hide its faults and it mostly works. The two leads have chemistry and are funny together. I suggest for anyone who likes chick flicks or high school films to watch this and fans of Mae Whitman will be delighted to see her as a lead.
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