This week on MC's Film Critique I review The DUFF directed by Ari Sandel.
The film is set in a high school and after a few minutes we meet the main characters Bianca and her two friends Jess and Casey. Bianca our main protagonist gets called the DUFF of the group at a party. This causes her to leave, and becomes the driving force of her actions for the rest of the film.
I want to take this moment to look a problem I see in the film industry. In the United States the legal drinking age is 21. The main cast is playing students about to graduate high school so they are around 17-18 years old. A few years too young to buy their own drinks. Now are kids seeing this phenomena in films and drink because they think that they should be doing this? Or is the film industry noticing that kids drink regardless of the legal drinking age and are trying to portray real life? I'll just leave that out there.Back to the film. The film is a comedy and does a good job at being funny with its jokes. It is a very now film. It's up to date with trends and social norms, while understanding how teens function. They are on their smart phones, Twitter, YouTube, social networking, all that good stuff. Other than the crazy party, there wasn't a part of the film that made me disbelieve the story.
The film even looks at Cyberbullying. Anyone who knows me well knows that I don't tolerate bullying, with my friends, with my co-workers and especially between the kids at my summer job. The film looks at high school labels and in a comical way and turns them around in a positive way.
Speaking of plot, this one was really good. The way the main character interacts passes the Bechdel test (see the video to the right), the film is funny but, it was predictable, which is a pet peeve of mine. A predictable movie can still be good, but I like not knowing what's going to happen next.
If you like comedy and are looking to laugh, this film is a must see.
Badge: None
Rating: 8/10
I love a good comedy but I find being predictable just kills it. There are so many comedy's nowadays that just do nothing for me simply for the fact that I can tell what's going to happen next. As for the legal drinking age and how often high school aged kids are seen drinking in movies - I think it is a little bit of both. Partly the industry portrays this on purpose, as well kids are picking up what is seen as the "norm" by watching them. However, they often try to show the negatives associated with drinking . In a way this could be seen as attempting to teach the younger generation a lesson. Great post - great insight!
ReplyDeleteThanks, I think your right on the money with what you said about underage drinking in films. Yes, nothing is more annoying than knowing what will happen next. When i watched the hills have eyes, there was part of a chase scene where the character hid in a bathroom, moved the bathtub in front of the door and i was like like "dude is guna bust through the wall" and that was exactly what happened.
DeleteNot sure if I want to see this movie now based on your review. Although it's funny, you said it's predictable, but I guess every quirky comedy is. There's only so many ways romantic comedies about high school can end.
ReplyDeleteI watched the trailer when I went to watch The Women in Black 2.First Thought was I want to watch it.
ReplyDeleteYeaaahhhhhh this movie doesn't sound like a masterpiece - thanks for writing the review, Bird man sounds way better
ReplyDeleteThought I wanted to see this movie..but maybe not anymore. Thanks for the post!
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