The DUFF
Lionsgate | Release Date: February 20, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
10
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriFeb 20, 2015
Wit and charm matter, and The DUFF has a good deal of both. The cast will be stars, the gags will be immortal, and you’ll still be watching this movie years from now. Read full review
90
TheWrapInkoo KangFeb 19, 2015
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. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Maggie WrobelFeb 19, 2015
The film belongs to Whitman, who, fresh off a five-year stint on the now-defunct TV series "Parenthood," infuses her first big-screen leading role with a unique charm. If Whitman looks familiar, but you can’t quite place her, that’s about right. Read full review
80
VarietyNick SchagerFeb 21, 2015
Canny and funny in equal measure, it’s a film that embraces technology — just like it does its protagonist — on its own perfectly imperfect terms. Read full review
80
The GuardianJordan HoffmanFeb 18, 2015
What’s terrific about The Duff is that Casey and Jessica may not have intentionally befriended the less attractive Bianca as a way to make themselves look better, but they don’t exactly deny that she serves that purpose. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireFeb 20, 2015
Quickly and convincingly, it becomes its own funny and fast-paced phenomenon with its own modern-day charm. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliFeb 19, 2015
The DUFF would make John Hughes smile. With its mixture of wit, teen friendly situations, and heart, The DUFF feels like something that might have come out of Hughes' '80s playbook. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisFeb 19, 2015
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. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianJeff BakerFeb 19, 2015
It's a comedy with an easy message, and it's sort of sweet. Not too raunchy, not too challenging. A good date movie for sophomores. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeFeb 19, 2015
A better question to ask about this movie, however, is “What is up with the writers of teen movies and their obsession with name-checking apps, an approach that all but guarantees that the film will be dated by the time it hits Netflix?” Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyKevin P. SullivanFeb 18, 2015
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. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperFeb 19, 2015
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. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle SmithFeb 18, 2015
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. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 18, 2015
A snappy, sweet-spirited teen comedy about a smart girl who tries to fight high school labeling with wit and words. And the occasional punch. Read full review
60
CineVueJames LuxfordApr 9, 2015
This is a heartfelt and charismatic teen movie that gives a platform to a promising young talent. Read full review
60
The DissolveGenevieve KoskiFeb 19, 2015
For all its potential pitfalls, The DUFF manages to keep its head above water, thanks to Whitman, Amell, and a willingness to engage with teen-movie clichés in a relatively thoughtful way. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanFeb 18, 2015
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. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenFeb 17, 2015
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. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniFeb 20, 2015
It falls short of the mark, even as it hits every one of the genre's conventions. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyFeb 19, 2015
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. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia PuigFeb 19, 2015
If you've seen "Mean Girls" or "Easy A," you've seen a far better version of The DUFF. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsFeb 19, 2015
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. Read full review
50
Village VoiceAmy NicholsonFeb 17, 2015
There's freedom in facing the truth. There would be even more freedom in a heroine finishing the film in her favorite ugly overalls, but we haven't gotten there yet. Read full review
40
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergFeb 19, 2015
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. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineEric HendersonFeb 19, 2015
The film deposits its heroine and everyone in the audience looking toward her for image-maintaining guidance back at square one. Read full review
33
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthFeb 19, 2015
Director Ari Sandel, working with a script by Josh A. Cagan, doesn't have the deftness to really convey how Bianca's personality turns conventional wisdom into her own unique, attractive qualities. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesFeb 18, 2015
An adaptation of Kody Keplinger’s YA novel, The DUFF is exponentially dumb. Read full review
0
Washington PostAnn HornadayFeb 19, 2015
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.” Read full review
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