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
