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Movies & TV Movies & TV Reviews

The DUFF

The DUFF directed by Ari Sandel, written by Josh A. Cagan from the novel by Kody Keplinger, with Mae Whitman, Robbie Amell, Bella Thorne and Allison Janney. An Entertainment One release. 101 minutes. Rating:NNN

Where to watch: iTunes


When a thoughtless comment makes high-school senior Bianca (Mae Whitman) realize she’s her group’s Designated Ugly Fat Friend – the one others keep around to make themselves look more attractive – she decides to challenge the accepted social structure.

The premise sounds like an update of the 90s touchstone She’s All That, but The DUFF has a little more on its mind. It’s genuinely interested in the ramifications of Bianca’s identity crisis, and Whitman’s playing a human being rather than a caricature. Robbie Amell is also surprisingly nuanced as the insensitive but ultimately decent instigator of Bianca’s reinvention.

It occasionally plays like a mashup of Mean Girls and Easy A, but Whitman’s performance gives The DUFF a spiky energy all its own.

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