Juliana Riverin
Staff Writer
Clichés are clichés for a reason: because they work.
They, along with a ridiculous brand of humor, are the primary reason why “The DUFF” is a success, despite the incredibly predictable plot and failed moral message.
“The DUFF” tells the story of Bianca (Mae Whitman), a high school senior who becomes aware that she is the “DUFF,” designated ugly fat friend, of her friend group. Eager to shed her title and win the affections of the boy of her dreams, she turns to her childhood friend and neighbor turned football captain and most popular boy in school, Wes (Robbie Amell). Unfortunately this is made more complicated by Madison (Bella Thorne), Wes’s psychotic ex-girlfriend and the most popular girl in school, who takes it upon herself to make Bianca’s life a living Hell.
“The DUFF” is so predictable that one could probably check off every plot point one by one in order. Every character and action can easily fit into any other romantic comedy as it does in “The DUFF”. However, this doesn’t expressly work against the film. Although every facet of the storyline can easily be anticipated, seeing the way these familiar scenes are portrayed in the movie creates a bit of originality.
Unfortunately, this tiny bit of uniqueness is not enough to carry the morality that the film tries to sell. For most of the movie, there is no mention of DUFFs other than in Bianca’s self-indulgent rants, but by the last five minutes of the film, the audience is meant to believe that everyone has found a sense of mutual respect for one another due to the idea that “everyone is a DUFF”. This gimmick is both overused, notably in questionable made for TV movies such as “Sydney White” and underplayed in “The DUFF” itself. It doesn’t even surface ’till the end of the film, and when it does it is nothing other than obnoxious and unbelievable.
This relationship between Wes and Bianca entirely makes up the “cute” factor in “The Duff.” Although their relationship contains every rom-com cliché ever created, from their boy/girl next door to love interest to their quintessential mall makeover scene, Wes and Bianca’s relationship is incredibly sweet, which makes the predictability of the plot seem more endearing than obnoxious. The cuteness, since it’s essentially the crux of the film, one of the main reasons that “The DUFF” doesn’t disappoint.
More than anything though, “The DUFF” is funny. The teachers and the supporting characters are hilarious in their ridiculousness. The fact of the matter is that every supporting character’s personality is blown up to almost absurd proportions in an effort to create hilarity. Wes is overly clueless, Bianca overly awkward, and the entire film is overblown but it works and creates a specific brand of humor.
The most obvious example of this would be the teachers at the high school, who are creepy, paranoid and intrusive, respectively and do not fail to make the audience laugh. Mr. Filmore (Chris Wyld) in particular, seems likely to either kill or date rape one of the students, while Mr. Arthur (Ken Jeon) seems the type to kidnap a student and force them to be his best friend. However, this does not come off as worrisome in the film, instead it just seems supremely awkward and funny in a slightly uncomfortable way.
Overall, “The DUFF” is a thoroughly entertaining mix of humor and cuteness despite the very predictable plot and an underwhelming message.
“The DUFF” is rated PG-13 and is playing in theaters nationwide.
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