Review of The DUFF (2015) by Xavier C — 17 Jun 2015

I was sadly very disappointed. The lack of laughs and cleverness took me by surprise. I had high hopes for this movie. It ended up just being a predictable and cookie-cutter experience.

I was willing to give the movie a pass for a few obvious plot developments, like the relationship between Wes and Bianca that was bound to happen, but I thought they would arrive at it in a more unique fashion. I could see all of it coming, though. Between Bianca's other love interest doing something to subvert her expectations and Wes giving up his chance with the popular girl to be with her, it's all by the books and boring. It's sad too because they actually do have very sweet and heartfelt interactions that kept me interested partially. Even the overall theme was less inspired than I'd hoped. I expected it to be in the realm of "it's okay to be a DUFF, and you shouldn't be ashamed of it or try to change it." The actual one is far less groundbreaking, as well as less realistic or helpful.

The biggest problem with the comedy is lazy execution of jokes, no subtlety, and how characters react to things. The worst example is when Bianca and her friends start throwing around names of social networks as a joke, but it's so corny. The scene is lazily put together, lasts too long, and the actors weren't into it. I saw such a thing so many times, and it made me cringe every time I saw these exact problems ruin so many jokes. Madison is the worst offender, who is by the way a waste of an antagonist.

I will still say it wasn't a pain to sit through...