A
‘duff’ is the “designated ugly fat friend” that her more attractive friends
have around them to make themselves look better by comparison. It’s actually in the Urban Dictionary
online, so I presume it is a term in use nowadays. In this film, Bianca (Whitman) learns from her hunky
neighbor Wesley (Arnell) that she is ‘The Duff’ to her friends Jess (Samuels)
and Casey (Santos). She is a bright
rather nerdy teen and has never heard the term so is mortified. Since her regard for herself is not all
that great anyway and she’s a bit self-destructive and suspicious, she projects
her anger onto her two best friends and ends the friendship—to their
mystification and dismay, of course.
The
director Ari Sandel and his crew have turned this film into something
resembling Mean Girls (2004) by its
dealing with high school conflicts, with the central character being a rather
introverted, naïve person, and by introducing a character not in the novel (The Duff by Kody Keplinger), but who,
like Regina in the earlier film is an “A-lister” who cannot abide a duff taking
up with her ex-boyfriend. Madison
(Thorne) is a mean girl who is filled with hubris and doesn’t mind at all
bullying Bianca by helping to make videos of her made on the sly go viral at
school.
Bianca,
in her desperation enlists the help of her football star neighbor, Wesley, who
is willing to coach her in becoming more attractive in exchange for her helping
him get a passing grade in science.
I
found The Duff to be smarter than I
had expected (there are some laugh-out-loud scenes as well as transitions and
developments that have substance), and the actors are good at playing high
school students. I’m just puzzled
why filmmakers don’t cast teenagers in a movie about teenagers; All the main
characters are obviously 10 or more years older than high school students. It’s not as if there aren’t a slew of
good age-appropriate actors at their disposal. This was particularly bothersome in Arnell’s case because he
looks so much like Tom Cruise.
The
adults in the film do show their acting chops and electrify the scenes they are
in. Allison Janney plays Bianca’s
mother who is a pop psychology guru who shows little interest in her daughter
until the very end. But she is a
hoot nevertheless. Similarly, Ken
Jeong plays a journalism teacher who has the best of intentions, but clearly
makes the students’ eyes roll.
He’s a fine character actor who also captures attention when he is on.
Although
they did decide to include a “nasty” stereotypical high school girl in the
story, I did appreciate the filmmakers’ portrayal of Bianca’s friends as
caring, loyal, and supportive—as many girls that age are. They also presented intelligence and
studiousness in a positive light—not altogether nerdy—as sometimes happens in
films for young people.
The Duff is lightly
entertaining with substantive points to make about high school.
Grade:
C+ By
Donna R. Copeland
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