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What it’s about:
A high school senior instigates a social pecking order revolution after finding out that she has been labelled the DUFF - Designated Ugly Fat Friend - by her prettier, more popular counterparts.
What we thought:
When I watched the trailer for this movie, the classic American high school tale came to mind, think Mean Girls and Easy A but with a more current, up to date twist.
The tale of the labels begin: you get the classic ones, the jock, geek, mean girl played by the very persuasive Bella Thorn, then there’s Mae Whitman, who plays The DUFF.
The movie follows Bianca Piper, Mae Whitman, a sarcastic, quirky and geeky student with a loyal pair of “hot” friends. They decide to go to a typical high school party where Bianca’s crush is. There she bumps into the school’s most popular guy and her neighbour, Wesley Rush, played by Robbie Amell.
Wesley is this hot, charming jock with a gorgeous smile, even if I do say so ourselves. Wesley casually informs Bianca that she is The DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) of her circle of friends, there to make her two hot friends even hotter by comparison.
Insulted, Bianca decides to enlist the help of Wesley (think of the timeless movie, She’s All That when Freddie Prince Jnr made over Rachel Leigh Cook) to help her “unduff” herself.
The movie revolves around one important topic, self-esteem, which is quite the typical, cute concept but needed one especially in the world of social media and the selfie stick.
Duff is something everyone can relate to, there hasn’t been a time where you don’t compare yourself to the girl or boy next door or even your friends. When Bianca becomes a victim to cyber bullying, a topic which is also very prominent, a mean girl uploads a video of her trying on clothes while unduffing herself, it speaks volumes as how a silly video can be made embarrassing for the other person.
But things do lighten up, The DUFF reaches the inevitable clichéd ending, which we won’t share but you already know what you want, hope and know is going to happen.
The audience will get a kick out of the sarcastic, snappy dialogue but the charming and irresistible leads especially Robbie Amell set it apart from other such movies.
With movies such as teens falling in love with supernatural beings (please make it stop), it’s nice to finally see a good old romantic teen movie with a positive message and charming performances.
