The DUFF - C+

Rated PG-13, 101 minutes
Wes's Grade: C+

Charming but predictable "The DUFF" is no mean girl: it pulls few punches

The charming but unoriginal teen comedy "The DUFF" is a predictable piece of fluff that pulls very few punches, but it's so darn likable it just might win you over. Definitely geared toward the younger set, who'll appreciate it the most, it reminded me a lot of the now classic 2004 teen movie "Mean Girls," which most of the target audience won't know, though in fact I wish it had been a little meaner. Content high school senior Bianca (Mae Whitman) is shattered when she learns she is 'The DUFF' (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) to her prettier, more popular friends (Skyler Samuels & Bianca Santos). She enlists the help of Wesley (Robbie Amell), a slick but charming jock, to help reinvent herself and to save her senior year from turning into a total disaster and overthrow the school's ruthless label maker Madison (Bella Thorne). Directed by Oscar-winner Ari Sandel (who won for his 2006 short "West Bank Story") and written by Josh Cagan, "The DUFF" is an engaging, calculated teen comedy that's hardly surprising - just a quick look at the ads or trailers and you might easily figure the plot out - but it comes with a good heart, a good message and good-enough dose of the always funny Emmy-winning Allison Janney in a small part as the title character's Mom. In spite of its lackluster script, "The DUFF" should have no trouble winning over the teens this is made for and the two leads, Whitman and Amell, are both likable, though it's evident that they, along with most of the other young adults, are youngish-looking twentysomethings playing the teen part (as the old saying goes about this, there were never teens that looked this good at my school) to the point in my head I had it that the good girl was Ellen Page and the popular girl was Jessica Chastain, which helped me make it through this a little better. The good thing is: Janney's always a tart, and throw in "Community's" Ken Jeong as the resident funny teacher, which helps you to withstand some of the more obvious plot twists. I appreciated the message of not labeling everyone, but ironically it's exactly what "The DUFF" does with its stereotypical, cardboard characters and predictable plotting that seems to meander from one episode to the next; some of the bland young girls could've been easily interchanged without notice, and the romance is an easy set up from its first frames. "The DUFF" has a few fun moments as Ellen Page and Jessica Chastain go at each other, but it would've probably worked better on the small screen, say over at ABC Family.