New The DUFF Movie Received Mixed Reviews From Major Critics
CBS Films released their new comedy film, “The DUFF,” into theaters this weekend, and the top,major movie critics have turned in their reviews for it. It turns out that they were pretty mixed across the board, giving it a 55 score out of a possible 100 across 26 reviews at the Metacritic.com site.
The film stars: Allison Janney, Romany Malco, Mae Whitman, Ken Jeong, Bianca Santos, Robbie Amell, Bella Thorne, Skyler Samuels and Nick Eversman. We’ve supplied blurbs from a few of the critics, below.
Inkoo Kang from TheWrap, gave it a great 90 score, stating: “There’s no doubt that The DUFF is clever, funny and quotable enough to become this decade’s “Mean Girls.” Watch your back, Regina George — there’s a new queen bee in town.”
Christy Lemire over at RogerEbert.com, gave it a 75 score, saying: “Quickly and convincingly, it becomes its own funny and fast-paced phenomenon with its own modern-day charm.”
David Lewis from the San Francisco Chronicle, gave it a 75 grade. He stated: ” Overall, though, Sandel’s film has heart, some good laughs, and a decent message. In this age of cyberbullying, that’s nothing to scoff at.”
Kevin P. Sullivan from Entertainment Weekly, gave it a 67 score, saying: “As misspent of an opportunity as The DUFF may be, it’s hard to completely dismiss a film that gives someone as talented as Whitman her long-overdue spotlight.”
Richard Roeper from the Chicago Sun-Times, gave it a 63 score. He said: “This is a well-intentioned and sometimes quite sharp high school movie that falls just short of the mark due to a few way-off-the-mark scenes and too much heavy-handed preaching.”
Kyle Smith over at the New York Post, gave it a 63 score. He said: “Slightly radical in portraying high schoolers as human beings of normal niceness and intelligence. That means this winsome comedy is a little low in the stakes department, not to mention predictable, but it gets an “A” for charm.”
Elizabeth Weitzman over at the New York Daily News, gave it a 60 grade, stating: “Fortunately, the cast — featuring Allison Janney as Bianca’s scattered mom and Ken Jeong as her sympathetic mentor — is savvy and silly. Really, though, most of the credit goes to Whitman, who stands in, and stands up, for the DUFF in all of us.”
Sheri Linden over at The Hollywood Reporter, gave it a 60 grade. She stated: “More a middle-of-the-road rom-com than a teen-spirit sendup, the pic weaves its lighthearted mix of silly and serious with increasingly heavy-handed spiels on self-esteem.”
Betsy Sharkey over at the Los Angeles Times, gave it a 50 grade, saying: “Romance, or the desire to find someone special, isn’t a bad thing — if it’s not the only thing. But as it stands in DUFF, the denouement at prom has cliché written all over it.”
Claudia Puig from USA Today, gave it a 50 score, stating: ” If you’ve seen “Mean Girls” or “Easy A,” you’ve seen a far better version of The DUFF.”
Michael Phillips over at the Chicago Tribune, gave it a 50 grade, saying: “Whitman’s a wily cross between Janeane Garofalo and Ellen Page and in her scenes with her motivational-speaker single mother (Allison Janney), you sense a better movie lurking in the shadows.”
Ben Kenigsberg at The New York Times, gave it a 40 grade. He stated: “Even in this would-be subversive comedy. Success means getting the guy. Getting good grades (as Bianca does) is not enough, nor is writing the front-page article in the school paper.”
Finally, Ann Hornaday over at the Washington Post, really had something against it,giving it the worst 0 score. She stated: “Between its grating heroine, strident speechifying, derivative plot and draggy tone and tempo, it’s like the redheaded stepchild of “Mean Girls” and “Freaky Friday.” Stay tuned. Also, get your favorite Movie stuff, and more by Clicking Here.
