Bianca is a content high school senior whose world is shattered when she learns the student body knows her as 'The DUFF' (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) to her prettier, more popular friends. Now, despite the words of caution from her favorite teacher, she puts aside the potential distraction of her crush, Toby, and enlists Wesley, a slick but charming jock, to help reinvent herself. To save her senior year from turning into a total disaster, Bianca must find the confidence to overthrow the school's ruthless label maker Madison and remind everyone that no matter what people look or act like, we are all someone's DUFF. Written by

Plot Synopsis:
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For a long time, high school students have been stuck with the typical labels - jocks, princesses, nerds, divas, geeks, dweebs, rejects, etc. In recent years, these students have now branched out from their stereotypes. As high school senior Bianca Piper (Mae Whitman) explains, now jocks play video games, the princesses are on anti-depressants, and the nerds are in charge. We then see Bianca walking down the halls with her two best friends - Jess (Skyler Samuels), an aspiring fashion designer, and Casey (Bianca A. Santos), a tough hacker girl. All the guys drool over Jess and Casey, but nobody ever really acknowledges Bianca.

The school's ruthless mean-girl queen bee Madison Morgan (Bella Thorne) invites Jess and Casey to a party at her house, and deliberately chooses not to invite Bianca, until Casey makes it so that there's a free invitation. Here, we also meet Bianca's neighbor and former friend Wesley Rush (Robbie Amell), captain of the football team and Madison's on/off boyfriend. Bianca also has a crush on a guy named Toby (Nick Eversman), but she is too scared to say more than two words to him.

Bianca's teacher Mr. Arthur (Ken Jeong) assigns her the task of writing an article for the school newspaper on the upcoming homecoming dance and what social life means to her. She reluctantly agrees to it.

At home, we meet Bianca's mom Dottie (Allison Janney), who became a successful author after her divorce. She was inspired by an episode of "The Simpsons" to create a book on the five stages of dealing with divorce. She, along with Jess and Casey, convince Bianca to go to the party, despite her hesitance.

At the party, Wes runs into Bianca and asks her if Jess and Casey have mentioned him or are interested in him. Bianca says it's not her job to divulge information on her friends, to which Wes argues that it is as their DUFF. Wes explains to a confused Bianca that it stands for the "Designated Ugly Fat Friend", and that a DUFF is there to make their friends look better by comparison. They are approachable enough for someone to ask them about their hot friends, and Bianca fits this role. Offended, she throws her drink in Wes's face. She goes home alone feeling insecure and self-conscious.

Throughout the rest of the day, the thought of being a DUFF bugs Bianca until she realizes that everyone only talks to her to get closer to Jess and Casey. She even notices all the other social cliques at school with their own DUFF. It gets to a point where Bianca confronts Jess and Casey about being their DUFF. Despite their assurance that they don't see her like that, Bianca spitefully unfollows them from every form of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Vine, etc.) and decides she doesn't want to be friends with them at all.

Bianca notices that Wes is failing chemistry. She sees this as an opportunity for the two of them to help each other out. She will tutor Wes if he agrees to turn her image around so that she won't be a DUFF. Wes agrees, but only if Bianca asks him in her monster voice from when they were kids. She does.

Wes joins Bianca at the mall where he first gets her to dress in a more flattering manner. As Bianca tries on different outfits, she fools around with a mannequin and pretends it's Toby. From afar, Madison's minion Caitlyn (Rebecca Weil) films this and sends the video to Madison. Wes then challenges Bianca to go around the mall and talk to a bunch of random guys for her to get over her fear of talking to Toby. It goes awkwardly for a while until one guy from a frozen yogurt stand talks to Bianca for a while.

The next day, the video of Bianca at the mall goes viral throughout the school. Everybody points and laughs at her, forcing her to run into the bathroom and cry. Mr. Arthur and Principal Buchanon (Romany Malco) take notice of this and demand everybody turn in their cell phones to prevent further cyberbullying, which only turns everyone against Bianca even more since they blame her for the loss of their gadgets. Jess and Casey also see the video, and Casey gets rid of the video. The phones are returned to the students when the constant ringing bothers Buchanon.

Wes comes over to Bianca's house to apologize for not stopping the video and for not defending her. He gives her a dress that she had her eye on at the mall. He tells her not to let the video get to her and that she should approach Toby personally and admit how she feels. Wes then promises to go out and continue studying.

Bianca approaches Toby at school after being previously humiliated by the video. She tells him she's into him, and he invites her to go over to his house to hang out.

Bianca takes Wes to her "thinking rock" so he can tell her how to handle herself on a date. He explains how the mood should be set and how Toby would act if he is trying to go for a kiss. Wes ends up kissing Bianca, but they laugh it off as just practice. Once again, Caitlyn is in the distance filming this. Madison then approaches Bianca at school the next day and threatens to post another video at the mall of Bianca's awkward encounter with the guys since Madison doesn't like Bianca hanging around Wes.

Bianca goes to Toby's house for dinner. He puts out sushi and talks about how he got into writing songs. However, Bianca cannot stop thinking about Wes. She goes to the bathroom and tries to convince herself that she's not into him. Outside, Toby plays an awkwardly-written song for Bianca and then asks about Jess and Casey. Bianca slowly realizes that Toby is DUFF-ing her, and he admits he only invited Bianca over because he thought Jess and Casey would be joining them. Bianca leaves and then sees that Toby bought the sushi from another place instead of cooking it like he made it seem. Bianca goes home and leaves a message for Wes. She walks by the woods and sees him and Madison sitting on her rock, kissing. Wes comes over later to comfort Bianca, only to be turned away after she tells him what she saw.

Depressed, Bianca tries to write her article, only to become lonely. She decides to make amends with Jess and Casey. The two of them, along with Dottie, convince Bianca to go with them to homecoming. Jess makes Bianca a dress using Bianca's flannel shirt and another dress.

The girls go to the homecoming dance, and everyone is stunned by Bianca's look, including Wes. She goes over to him and admits that she's into him. Madison catches them talking and threatens to post the video, but Bianca is no longer fazed by it. She says that it won't bother her and that she doesn't care about labels the way Madison does. Bianca adds that everyone is a DUFF since there will always be someone prettier or more popular, but that shouldn't bother anybody. Moments later, Wes and Madison are crowned homecoming king and queen. Madison gladly accepts the crown, but Wes rejects it and goes over to kiss Bianca in front of everyone. They leave to go hook up in the computer room.

Bianca writes her article on being a DUFF, which is a hit with the students. She and Wes become a couple in the end, and she becomes a more confident person that doesn't let a label define her.

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rannynm from United States
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The comedic movie, The Duff, is hilarious, relatable and worth watching. The film is about high-school senior Bianca, played by Mae Whitman, who finds out that she is the DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) of her attractive group of friends. Determined to change her DUFF image and impress her crush Toby, she turns to her popular neighbor Wesley Rush, played by Robbie Amell, to give her a complete makeover. Through her journey of transformation, she gains self confidence and shows the school that everybody is a DUFF.

Not only do I enjoy that the movie starts off fast, but I really like that it starts with a cool, graphic newspaper clip that explains high school and the different types of people in high school. Being a high school student myself, I was really surprised at how relatable the movie is, especially to today's generation of teenagers. It doesn't just portray the generic, stereotypical high school student that is so outdated. The movie has a lot of familiar celebrity stars that I enjoyed seeing. The performances by Mae Whitman, Robbie Amell, Allison Janney and Ken Jeong are especially hilarious and very entertaining.

The movie is hilarious, yet deep. Most comedy movies are really funny, yet pointless or lack an overall message. I laughed so often and even shed a tear in a heartfelt scene. The facial expressions are priceless and memorable. I respect this film for being extremely funny while also having a deep, motivational moral lesson and theme. I enjoyed the plot and moral of the story as much the comedy. The movie has a lot of references that are very comical. One example is an episode of the Simpsons that the movie shows. The movie also has really entertaining graphics that make the movie even more unique, some of this include labels and an interactive screen effect.

This film is one I will watch multiple times and tell my friends to watch, yet I do not recommend it as a family movie. The film may be inappropriate for children under the age of 13 due to inappropriate language and actions. I definitely recommend the movie for teenagers in high school, especially girls. I recommend the movie to ages between 13 and 18. I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.

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bbickley13-921-58664
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I never herd the term Duff before and I don't know if it exist in real culture, but it made for a humorous movie.

Bianca Piper is The Duff (Designated Ugly Fat Friend). Though it sounds very cruel when spelled out, abbreviated it just means your not as cool or as hot as the friends you hang around, and if your a teenage girl who was made aware of this by your idiot jock next store neighbor without previous knowledge that you were different from your herd, that could put you on a downward spiral.

This movie is just more proof that teenagers don't change (technology does and social media plays a very large part in this movie), which is why the movie seems formulated. I would not spoil anything if I told you how it ends so long as you have seen a teen comedy before.

I find the topic of the Duff fascinating. The character itself has been seen in every teen movie ever. It's always the main protagonist, the semi-cooler kid that wants the protagonist to party and the third wheel, that now has a name. For the first time in teen comedy history(I think) that third wheel got it's own flick and it turns out the Duff is funnier than the one liners we had it say over the course of time.

Mae Whitman played the character with amusing results.

I totally recommended seeing this film. highly enjoyable

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Nicole of ArchonCinemaReviews.com from United States
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Take a look around and survey your group of friends, are they all good looking? Then you might be the designated ugly fat friend, or the DUFF.

Bianca's life becomes undone when someone reveals to her that she is the DUFF to her prettier and more popular high school friends. Frustrated, she retaliates by instigating the status quo and social hierarchy at her school.

This comedy finds its laughs as Bianca, played by Mae Whitman, desperately tries to reinvent herself and overcome DUFF status. A chronic DUFF, she can't do it alone, and makes a deal with her neighbor Wesley (Robbie Amell) to undo the damage.

A fan of Mae Whitman, Robbie Amell is the clear star of this film. Playing an endearing jock without being a clich� is quite a feat and his performance is scene stealing without being a parody.

From that plot alone there is not much to the story within the high school film The Duff. The film injects an archetype antagonist, played by Bella Thorne, the most classic mean girl ever invented. This character's existence is solely responsible for the plot feasibly being stretched to feature film length � otherwise the DUFF would be relegated to a solitary episode plot line on a WB television series.

Though briefly marketed as the Mean Girls of the 2010's, it really is in an inferior class in comparison to the phenom that was (and is) Mean Girls. The writing, plot and direction are all ho-hum: funny enough for a one time watch with your girlfriends with popcorn, but that's about it.

Please check out our website for FULL reviews of all the recent releases.

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Aktham Tashtoush from Boston, MA, United States
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It's a fresh idea ,, new definitions and it's kinda purposeful which makes it a bit exciting .. not the type of comedy where you laugh your A$$ off ,, but it has more than a bunch of funny bits which made it fine in that area. Ken Jeong appearance was one of the few of scenes that intrigued me to keep on watching the movie, Hilarious man.. to be fair ,, this project would look so much better as a TV movie or probably as a series on CBS, and it could hit huge success, but the idea of series based on these type of stories is not really new on TV (like "Awkward" 6 seasons so far on MTV which is a success),, the plot seemed entangled but it went toward a clear goals .. the writing looked okay ,, tight in some parts but still it didn't help much to cover some holes in the production as there were a couple of still scenes in the mid of the movie.

As for the cast ,, it was well picked .. again Ken Jeong in the beginning of the movie ,, he was really funny ,, the girl from "parenthood" ;) Mae Whitman she has flown up high to be really good funny gal and all the other girls as well were fine,, Chris Wylde was hilarious in the end of the movie :D ,, Robbie Amell really good acting all popular and careless .. "you were nerdy on fire in the flash" :D :D,, adding the lovable Allison Janney i think all of that crew made the movie a bit more funny and well it helped out with the rating.

Overall,, it is fresh enjoyable movie .. with a funny bits from another perspective and not forgetting to shine a light on cyber bullying problem.. so it is a recommended.

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paul_3-960-896774
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The DUFF is quite entertaining and has a really nice poignant message. The film captures life, I mean the characters, and I'm mostly referring to Wesley (Robbie Amell) and Bianca (Mae Whitman), are realistic, humanized. I got a weird sense that I was watching people I knew and not a stereotypical film version of them. The movie has that documentary feel to it and it's due to how the leads portrayed their characters and how easy it is to relate to them.

The only real disappointment I have with the movie is that I thought it would be funnier. It's still a comedy but it's a little more serious than I expected. Watching the trailer I thought that I would laugh a hell of a lot more, specially when you look at the established comedic cast in it. Whitman and Amell do have good comedic timing and The DUFF is fairly funny but the quality of the jokes are not as high as I hopped they would be.

The story is intelligent, insightful, and kind of funny but it's still very predictable. The DUFF is on the edge of being great but it's not.

@wornoutspines

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mikeaustin-26357 (mike.austin44@gmail.com) from Canada
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The Just: What starts as an original fresh concept somehow makes its way into an overplayed high school dance clich�. Nonetheless, not terrible, and provides 2 hours of entertainment which if you follow my reviews automatically gets a 5, and the comic relief takes it to a 6. Although there are better movies out there, which warrant much higher scores from me, this movie provides a relative safeness in the choice, you are getting a flick that you don't have to think about, dread over, or stress over, and end satisfied. This joins along list of features in this genre warranting a '6', however if you are looking for more within the genre, features such as; Superbad and American pie put this movie to shame however you look at it.

.

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Danielle Rawls from New York, NY
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I had the pleasure of going to see the NYC premiere last night with my sister and was pleasantly surprised. Mae Whitman's performance in this film has set her up to be Hollywood's next breakout star. She brings so much humor, wit and charm to the table that's going to make her fans wanting more.

Viewers will also identify with Mae's struggles in the film, as well as the overall message. I think we could all agree that everyone has has a DUFF in their friend group. DUFF doesn't always have to mean ugly or fat (it can, but it doesn't always apply). One example of a DUFF can be a friend that's always just kind of there in the friend group and makes everyone else look better. Another example of a DUFF, which is similar to Mae's character in the film, is the friend of the group that is hilarious and makes everyone die laughing, but is rarely someone a guy is attracted to or would be looking to date. There are different dimensions to the term duff. No duff is the same.

Every one person can have a little DUFF in them. Meaning, a flaw, insecurities, etc. Overall, the film was funny, even a bit crude at points, but also very touching. I'd definitely recommend it.

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Sarah Kenny from England
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The Duff is just another filed attempt by film makers to make a movie from what was actually a great book. There were so many things wrong with this film that I don't even know where to start. The book was about how stereotyping is a pile of crap, yet the film strove to make stereotypes out of the characters. They made Wesley stupid and all about his body, they made Bianca 'awkward' and socially inept, they made Casey and Jessica look shallow and self-obsessed, and worst of all, they made Toby into an indie, guitar playing dreamboy with long hair. All the characters were meant to be AVERAGE (except maybe Wesley, who was meant to be particularly attractive), because the message of the book was that stereotypes don't exist and everyone is actually leading really similar lives and you shouldn't judge. I basically hate this movie and all that it stands for. If I could, I would give it a zero, because I was so disappointed that the makers of it had A* material to work with, real characters and real talk about the world, and they made it just another teen movie.

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Gordon-11 from Earth
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This film tells the story of a teenage girl who isn't as beautiful as her best friends. She is called a designated ugly fat friend, and her quest to change herself is started.

I love high school movies, because they are always fun to watch. In "The DUFF", the plot is predictable but is very funny. I laughed out loud so many times, especially the scene where Bianca goes on a date with Toby. The scene outside the library about unfriending each other us hilarious as well, but i cab totally see it happening in real life. The positive message within the film is prominent and infectious, and it makes me feel more positive and happy! I really enjoyed watching this film.

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jackson-magaw from United States
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Teen comedies are the best! I have always high school comedies such as Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), American Pie (1999), Bring It On (2000), Mean Girls (2004), and Superbad (2007). I was really exciting about seeing The DUFF, as there as hasn't been a whole lot of teen comedies recently. This movie follows Bianca Piper (played by Mae Whitman), a high school senior who's learns she has been labeled the DUFF, short for Designated Ugly Fat Friend, by her classmates. The DUFF is basically the friend who is least prettiest in a group. Bianca decides she must reinvent herself, and then turn the tables on snobby hot-girl Madison Morgan (Bella Thorne) to restructure the school's society.

This film reminded me a lot of Mean Girls, it deals with similar themes of high school popularity and spreading rumors. While its not quite on the level of Mean Girls, its still very clever and very original. Mae Whitman and Robbie Amell (who plays the football jock who Bianca gets help for advice) have some good comedic chemistry. Bella Thorne also plays an interesting role, as one of Bianca's classmates who is very snobby and judgmental, and tries to throw her under the bus. She is a lot like Rachel McAdam's character from Mean Girls. I did find it kinda weird for Mae Whitman and Bella Thorne to be playing classmates as Whitman is nine years older than Thorne. I also loved Ken Jeong, who plays Bianca's teacher.

Overall, I was satisfied with this movie, I had its funny scene here and there, especially when Mae Whitman and Robbie Amell is on screen. This film will definitely please a fair amount of teenagers and probably adults like.

Though the book and movie share the name, the plots are completely different.
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Although they play classmates in the film, Mae Whitman is actually nine years older than her costar Bella Thorne in real life.
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Bella Thorne originally auditioned to be Bianca.
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Bella Thorne's character Madison is written specifically for the movie. She did not exist anywhere in the book.
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The screenplay for this film was featured in the 2011 Blacklist; a list of the "most liked" unmade scripts of the year.
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Mae Whitman is eight years older than the average senior.
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The mascot is the same as in Easy A (2010) - the blue devil(s).
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Nick Eversman is the eldest of the cast to portray a high school student and is actually 12 years older than his on-screen co-star Bella Thorne and three years older than Mae Whitman and Robbie Amell
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Both Mae Whitman and Robbie Amell have played opposite Bill Pullman as The President, Whitman in Independence Day (1996) and Amell in 1600 Penn (2012).
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Bella Thorne auditioned for the role of Bianca which went to Mae Whitman. The producers liked her so much they wrote in the role of Madison for her.
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All of the school administrators are named after US presidents (Mr. Arthur, Principal Buchanan, Coach Grant, etc.), and Principal Buchanan has a photograph of President James Buchanan behind his desk.
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The film is loosely based on the novel, of the same name
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Duff means 'Designated Ugly Fat Friend'.
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In the movie there is a character named Bianca and in real life the actress who plays Casey is named Bianca
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Skyler Samuels and Ken Jeong also co-starred in Furry Vengeance (2010).
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When Mae Whitman (Bianca) stated "when the guy from Batman fell into that acid and became the Joker" is wrong. The character was actually Two-Face.
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During the 'thinking rock' scene when Bianca and Wesley are sitting and talking. The hair on Biancas left side keeps changing in between shots, alternating between being behind her ear, and then covering it again.
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high school|high school student|female protagonist|acronym in title|

AKAs Titles:
Germany - DUFF: Hast du keine, bist du Eine!
Greece - Φ.�›.�Ÿ.�œ.� .�‘.: Φίλη �›�Œγ�‰ �Œγκο�… �œάζα�‚ � ε�ι�†έ�εια�‚ και �‘�ƒ�‡ήμια�‚
Israel (Hebrew title) - Metou'yeget
Poland - THE DUFF [#ta brzydka i gruba]
Serbia - Duff - Dežurna neugledna drugarica
Russia - �Ÿ�€о��‚�ƒ�ˆка
Slovenia - DUFF: Dezurni bajs
Ukraine - �Ÿ�€о��‚а�‡ка

Release Dates:


Certifications:
Australia:M / Brazil:12 / Canada:PG (British Columbia) / Ireland:15A / Philippines:R-13 / Sweden:Btl / UK:12A (cut) / USA:PG-13 (certificate #49491)