Ari Sandels’ movie The DUFF is a book-to-movie adaptation of the novel by Kody Keplinger. In the movie, high school senior Bianca Piper (Mae Whitman) sets out to un-DUFF herself after discovering that she is the DUFF compared to her more popular and prettier friends Jess (Skylar Samuels) and Casey (Bianca Alexa Santos). Bianca enlists the help of her neighbor and notorious womanizer Wesley Rush (Robbie Amell) to un-DUFF her in exchange for Bianca tutoring Wes in chemistry. While similar to the book, the movie differs by adding in Madison Morgan (Bella Thorne), a character that didn’t exist before the movie. Also, Wesley Rush (from the book) was super-rich, passing all his classes, and not a jock at all. Book Bianca is also slightly more cynical in the film,  and while still upset about her “DUFF” label, was not trying to un-DUFF herself.

The entire cast, from top to bottom, was fantastic. Whitman and Amell were perfect for the roles of Bianca and Wes. Both Bianca and Wes are characters that have more to them then what meets the eye, and the actors’ performances were better than expected. Madison Morgan (Bella Thorne) was fantastic as the school’s mean girl/ queen bee, and Thorne did well in this supporting role. Fans of Whitman and Thorne will definitely not be disappointed.

The soundtrack was exactly what one would have expected from this type of movie, and not much else. However, the cinematography was great. The character profiles in the beginning were perfect for the movie. Then, when Bianca (Whitman) had a victory moment, the cartoon fireworks behind her were perfection.

As someone that read and loved the book, I was disappointed about how much of the plotline and character backgrounds and personality were changed. That being said, the movie was great. It was hilarious and had moments that caused almost the entire audience to erupt in laughter. I wish that the writers and director had stayed closer to the plotline of the book, but all in all, it was a good movie. High school students (and maybe even some eighth graders) would enjoy this movie. If you read the book, be prepared for a little disappointment, but don’t worry; the movie is still “amazeballs.” I’m giving this movie a solid A-.

#ImSomebodysDUFF