Watching American movies about high school is always an interesting experience because it shows a reality very different than high school in Brazil. Sure, everybody has their own group, but I don’t remember it being as labeled as here: the cheerleaders, the football team, the nerds, …
In “The DUFF,” I learned another new label: Designated Ugly Fat Friend. We also learn in the movie that every group has one DUFF and that he/she doesn’t necessarily need to be fat or ugly. It’s usually the person less attractive than the others in the group and more approachable. That’s what Bianca (Mae Whitman) finds out about herself: everybody just talks to her because they really want to get to her two attractive friends. She, then, asks her neighbor Wesley (Robbie Amell) to help her stop being a DUFF.
Also, as an assignment for the school paper, she has to write about the Homecoming (also non-existent in Brazil), but she has no date to the party and secretly wishes to go with Toby (Nick Eversman) and that’s another topic for Wesley to help her with.
It’s a great comedy and Mae Whitman has great comedy timing. It’s also really nice to see Allison Janney playing her mother, even if with a smaller role.
