The DUFF: A Great High School Comedy

     Whatever this cinematic year will bring, The DUFF will most likely go down in infamy. Not because it is a bad movie(because it isn't), but because it goes against what the critics like to call good, although for me, this is a comforting fact and a selling point in and of itself. This movie is far from good, it is great, and as a teen comedy, it is probably the best one since Ten Things I Hate About You. The DUFF actually has the makings of a cult classic, and should it is successful, it will be because of word of mouth and social media, not because of critics' reviews, and for that, I can only say "long live the internet!" At long last, here is a movie about teenagers acting like teenagers and having teenager problems, not just trying to send some kind of social message that only applies to a few. At its core, this is a movie about bullying, but not the kind of bullying that moves people to tears at school assemblies or the nightly news, but the kind of everyday bullying that few people actually know or care about. Nothing as extreme as Carrie, but within the realms of realism. This story applies to just about everyone in the world and only a cynic will fail to take this movie to heart or fail to find anything about it appealing, yet there will be many.
 
     The DUFF, on its surface, offers very little in terms of something new. The High School genre is one that has been covered very extensively in cinema going all the way back to Grease, with the classics such as The Breakfast Club, and Clueless filling in the gap. What The DUFF does offer us however, is a fresh film, one that does not totally conform to the formula of high school movies, but still feeling like one. Whenever you think something is going to happen exactly the way it always has, they dispense with it. for example (spoilers ahead), the scene when she is trying on clothes and talking about her crush while one of the school bullies secretly films her, we begin to think that this will ultimately be the climax of the film, but that notion is quickly dismissed, and the film moves on. There is a certain flow to this film that is rarely found in comedies, much less teen comedies, and The DUFF breaks the mold of teen high school flicks.

     The movie follows Bianca, played by Mae Whitman, a high school student who is intelligent and not into to much of a social life. She has two very good friends, both of whom are fairly popular and very pretty. One day, her neighbor points out to her that in every group of friends, there is a DUFF, the Designated Ugly Fat Friend, and that in her case, it is her. She doesn't take this very well, and at first dismisses the notion. But as she thinks about it, the more she sees that it is true, and it infuriates her to the point of severing ties with the only two friends she has. She then sets out on a mission of reinventing herself, employing her popular jock neighbor to help transform her into someone the boy she has a crush on would date, in exchange for helping him pass his classes. While a few cliches ensue, the movie itself retains its freshness and feels like a tribute to all high school movies while being something totally new.

     The cast is seasoned, but is not very known, and the producers of the movie heavily depended on each actor's individual abilities. The only actors audiences in general will recognize are Bella Thorne, coming out of movies such as Adam Sandler's Blended as well as Disney's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (from which she basically reprises her role, albeit with much more detail), and the ever hilarious Ken Jeong of The Hangover trilogy and TV's Community, cast perfectly as Bianca's teacher and head of the school paper. What makes the movie work with such a cast is the screenplay, written to be hilarious, but surprisingly well grounded and realistic. Nothing seems forced and the students actually seem like high-schoolers, a refreshing notion in a time when everyone wants to cast teenagers as adults.

     All in all, The DUFF is is a funny, entertaining, heartfelt outing. Bordered on cliche? Maybe. Been there done that? Without a doubt. But it still manages to put a smile on your face and remember what high school was all about. If there is one movie you  should watch because of word of mouth, it's this one. The DUFF is sure to go down as the high school cult classic of this generation and you will thank yourself for watching it while in its theatrical run. I saw it for free at a critics' screening and loved it so much, I felt bad about not paying for the ticket, so I went and saw it again, something I rarely do while a film is in its theatrical run, but it is worth every penny of the ticket price. If you need a little convincing, here is the trailer for your enjoyment and persuasion.