The Duff Entertains While Enlightening Us About School Experience

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The Duff Movie Review

By M. Monique Dhillon

The Duff is a sweet spirited teen comedy about a smart girl who tries to fight high school labeling with wit and words. The movie has every aspect of a modern high school comedy. Like the boy our leading lady likes who ultimately turns out to be Mr. Wrong; the trying on different clothes montage; the negligent parent, the oblivious principal, the funny teacher; of course the home coming dance where the social roles get upended. So why is it so wonderful? Because charm and wit matter and The Duff has a good balance of both. The cast is tremendous, the jokes will be everlasting and you’ll still be watching this movie years from now.

That being said the basis of the story is an unpleasant bit of business. The protagonist Bianca (Mae Whiteman), part of a trio of long time best friends finds out one day that she might be “The Duff” in the relationship: The Designated Ugly Fat Friend – the approachable schlumpy gatekeeper to her otherwise hot, intimidating pals. Don’t forget her friends Jess (Skylar Samuels) an aspiring fashionista and Casey (Bianca Santos) a high-spirited athlete always treat her as an equal. Never mind the fact Bianca herself is beautiful, funny and smart but, this is the paranoid insecure teenage mind we’re talking about. So after finding out, Bianca separates herself from her friends and basically gives up on life. Later on her brawny football-captain neighbor Wesley (Robbie Amell) agrees to help her overcome the Duff-ness in exchange for getting help on his chemistry. Of course Wesley was the one who told Bianca about the whole Duff thing in the first place and feels the need to make it up to her in some way. He also is clearly attracted to her and the only thing preventing him is his social status and his nasty off and on again girlfriend Madison (Bella Thorne).

You probably know where it’s all going from there. Director Ari Sandel (who remarkably has an Oscar for his short musical he made some years ago called West Bank Story) makes sure the film is great fun all around and is not taken too seriously, but the characters are taken seriously, The amazingly inventive Mae Whiteman whom you might recall from Arrested Development and Parenthood, turns Bianca into a captivating guide to her own social collapse and revivation. The part invites her to be off beat, sassy, vulnerable, giving irrelevant asides and goofy humor and lovesick does eyes and inner torment, but do remember this is a movie mostly based on a state of mind with speed and ease. She captures it in a great way. Also the great chemistry between her and Robbie Amell playing her handsome romantic contrast. He’s got killer looks, and combines that with physical ease and a gentleness of behavior even though he’s first seen as a buffoonish jock. Wesley’s affection for Bianca feels real and makes you feel like its all going to turn out okay.

What impresses me the most about The Duff is the way it incorporates today’s technology and social media into it, but turns it as indicative of the problems afflicting Bianca. Displaying the screen with texts and Twitter related visual graphics that really show how cell phones and the internet dominate teen social interaction. The likable cast and their surprising exchanges create an atmosphere of acceptance and affection. Even though Bianca turns on her friends when she discovers she’s The Duff and thinks her world has turned upside down, the film itself doesn’t go in that direction. It’s a whole new world with social horrors that you can’t wait to revisit.

Muskaan Monique Dhillon is a Grade 9 student at Fraser Heights Secondary school and loves movies like her father R. Paul Dhillon.