The Duff: Movie Review

Mae Whitman, the talented young actress from “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and Television’s “Parenthood” is neither fat or ugly, yet her character Bianca has been labeled a Duff (Designated Ugly Fat Friend). Thanks to a little piece of dialogue in the new high school comedy “The Duff”, we learn that not all Duffs are fat or ugly. Like the title, the film itself is pretty meaningless.

Bianca (Whitman), her two best friends Jess (Skyler Samuels) and Casey (Bianca A. Santos) have been close since childhood. When Bianca’s neighbor Wesley (Robbie Amell) informs her that she happens to be the Duff of the trio, she quickly separates herself from the group and sets out on her own. Unable to muster the courage to approach Toby (Nich Eversman), a boy that she has a crush on, Bianca offers to help Wesley pass science in exchange for helping her learn how to talk to a boy. We also get the mean-hot-girl in Madison (Bella Thorne). Yes, “The Duff” is pretty much like any non-John Hughes high school comedy of the 80’s-90’s.

“The Duff” has a couple of laughs and isn’t boring, plus it will probably please the target demographic which would be young teenage girls. For anyone else, there is not much here to recommend. Allison Janney, Romany Malco, and Ken Jeong are all pretty much wasted here as the adults in the film and Whitman is a whole lot better than the material she has to work with.

By: Marc Ferman