The DUFF (2015)

The Duff(2015) Starring: Mae Whitman, Bella Thorne, Robbie Amell, Bianca A. Santos, Skyler Samuels, Allison Janney, Ken Jeong, Nick Eversman, Romany Malco, Chris Wylde, Mahaley Manning, Tony Cavalero, Seth Meriwether, Gabriela Fraile, and Agnes Mayasari Directed By: Ari Sandel Review YOU EITHER KNOW ONE, YOU EITHER HAVE ONE, YOU ARE ONE When I looked at the poster for this film I thought to myself there's no way this movie is good. But when it was released on DVD & Bluray and I saw part of the trailer on demand on Comcast I became interested in seeing this movie. I was pleasantly surprised before I watched it to find out from my sister that it's based on a book. The Film is about a chick named Bianca who goes to a party with her friends one night to find out from her neighbor Wesley that she is a new label called a Duff. Designated, Ugly, Fat, Friend. She is the approachable who guys use to get close to her friends, people ask her questions about other topics instead of her. The film is one those teen movies that come out every few years, I believe the last one we had was Prom with Aimee Teegarden. Unlike that movie though this one is actually good. It has a few clichés of course but I find clichés to be good(sometimes) and here it's alright because already in a film with a good script that allows its actors to shine in their roles. Like Robbie Amell and Mae Whitman, Robbie plays the jock who of course the main chick is falling for even though in the beginning she doesn't like him. This is Ari Sandel's first directorial debut, okay well not really he's directed another film but from what I can see this is probably his best film out of the two. He has a nice style for character and setting. The Duff was a nice surprise for me, and I was glad I rented it was totally worth it. It has great characters, nice script, good acting and is hit out of the park with good direction. Even if it does have a few clichés, I'm giving The Duff a three and a half out of five.

Someone points out to Bianca she is a duff. The designated ugly fat friend. She is just there to make her more popular friends look good. Step up the annoying jock neighbour who can school Bianca in the ways of cool.This may well sound familiar, to be fair this isn't going to win any prizes for originality. But the characters have a slightly different slant to them. The film also feels different, with a little more depth and concentrates on the social media aspect.The production isn't as glossy as some other movies of its ilk and uses some snappy affectsThe leading lady is great, which is just as well as she has a lot of work to do.Not massively funny but entertaining, well made and quite light.

I see a lot of people comparing this film to movies like 'she's all that' and all the transformation movies and I want to make it clear right now this movie is not that. The main character in this film is told she's the DUFF and actively seeks help to change that. I love movies like 'she's all that' '10 things' but let's be honest, those movies are about bets and jokes on the character. This film is not that. Bianca goes into changing herself willingly to fit in and not be that person anymore. Another misconception is that the two main girls would be friends with someone like Bianca. I'm not the most attractive person, am also disabled, and was friends with the senior cheerleading squad and wrestling team AS A FRESHMAN. I'm tired of these mean spirited high school films when really my hard time was middle school. Anyway I digress. Was the film a little cliché? Yes in the sense that (maybe spoiler alert) she ends up with her neighbor she's known her whole life. However in no other movie is it a HOT neighbor. It's usually the dorky best friend who has stuck by through thick and thin. So I really liked that this film challenged that as well. I only deducted two points for the stupid fight the friends have to split up to begin with and because it wasn't nearly as funny as I was expecting. That being said, I'll still take sweet and cute.:)

A teenage movie that obviously will play out one way or another depending on whether you like those or not. It's pretty witty and it has some genuine jokes in it (not to mention some very funny supporting cast to boot with). The story itself is as in many cases, very predictable. You know who the real "target" of affection is going to be.But the movie is able to win one over, if you buy into the whole light heartiness of the movie. The movie as some before it is very self aware and there are many in jokes in this. It's also refreshing to see the main girl being a horror movie fan. It's also interesting to see how much PG-13 movies have evolved over the years and how much more is allowed to be said in them. All in all, a lot of fun