Review of The DUFF (2015) by Danielle H — 28 Feb 2015

There's nothing worse than a near-miss. Unfortunately, that describes The DUFF. Next to its genuine cuteness and willingness to try faux-new stuff, it never quite nails its tone. Its unfocused perspective is amateurish. Consistently over-reaching in multiple areas (bullying, cliques, friendship, dating, divorce) the negatives ultimately overshadow the decent if familiar teen-based humor.

Whitman plays the titular DUFF, a scholastically-inclined horror-film fan learning to deal with the idea that she may be the ugly one in her group of friends. From there, the rules by which the movie and characters live are juvenile and dumb. The dialogue, which boasts decent "Gilmore Girls"-esque cutesiness, often feels less like real people talking and more like out-of-touch adults trying desperately to understand youth culture.

Whitman, however, mostly comes out unscathed. She's funny, cute, and smartly funny as the awkward focus of this even more awkward film. Surrounding her, though, are a bevy of Old Navy mannequins trying to pass as recognizable and funny teenagers. With zero complexity and even less charisma, these "mactors" bring the film to a halt.

More egregious is the confused ethics. Bullying, a recent hot-button social topic, is the focus here, but its handling of it is lazy and ill-advised. The moral could potentially cause as much bullying as it prevents. Of course this could be overlooked if the film was just funnier or more unique. As is, The Duff is a movie with a lot of potential but never breaks any new ground. In the shadow of Mean Girls, Clueless, Easy A, and 21 Jump Street, it's sadly a bad rip-off of much better teen films.