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The Duff (2 Viewers)

steve jaros

Supporting Actor
Joined
Sep 30, 1997
Messages
971
Location
Baton Rouge, LA
Real Name
Steve
My wife and I saw this film today and to our surprise we enjoyed it quite a bit. High school melodramas are among the most formulaic in the Hollywood playbook. You can almost set your watch by the plot twists (5 minutes until she cries over the bad date with the mean cute guy she's crushing on, 17 minutes until her best friend betrays her, 31 until the nice cute guy warms up to her, 47 until she and the best friend reconcile, etc.). So with a movie like the Duff, it all comes down to execution, and this one is executed correctly.


First, the film has some substance. Yes, it's just a high school melodrama, but it has a modicum of a heart and a brain. The filmmakers have clearly reviewed the better films of this genre (the untouchable Fast Times at Ridgmont High, the Breakfast Club, Clueless, Mean Girls) and have borrowed from them smartly.


Second, while the comedy gags aren't close to perfect, they hit home about two out of three times. We found ourselves laughing quite a bit.


Third, the film is "knowing". It cues off all the latest trends among middle-American teens, so the hip factor is present.


Fourth, the film's plot is straightforward. The star, the Duff girl, is in focus throughout, and side-plots that make the ending difficult or preposterous to resolve are absent.


Fifth, almost nothing is absurd about this film. Almost everything that happens in it could in fact happen in real life. You don't have to endure ridiculous situations that make you cringe.


Sixth, the acting is on-point. The Duff girl plays the ugly-duckling role very well, the mean girls are suitably mean, the airhead hunks are inflated to the right level. Plus, we get Ken Jeong actually contributing positively to a film! For the first time since the original Hangover, he's allowed to act "normal" most of the time, without the over the top craziness. Romany Malco is funny as the paranoid principal, and Allison Janey is her appealing self as the Duff's mom. The cast has appeal.


Seventh, because of point four, the film wraps up neatly. So many times, comedies are ruined by overstaying their welcome, dragging what should be a 10-minute ending into a 25-minute nightmare. Not with the Duff, like a good date, it ends when it should.


Overall, this film is like a good Katy Perry song. It blows in with a tasty riff, slathers you with three minutes of fat pop bubblegum hooks, and then blows out before you get bored. And it sneaks in a neat message or two for the kids.


Grade: B
 

Vic Pardo

Screenwriter
Joined
Feb 7, 2013
Messages
1,520
Real Name
Brian Camp
You mean it's not a biopic about this guy?


D60.jpg


:(
 

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