I've been excited to see this movie since I first heard about it. It sounded like such a great throw-back to all those silly teen movies that used to be around more: She's the Man, 10 Things I Hate About You, etc...now it's all dystopian and vampires and Shailene Woodley. ;) I actually went and bought the book (which I'd never heard of) because of the movie. That's a first for me, I think. No wait, I watched Beastly before reading it and ended up loving the movie more. Anyway, I read this book back in April and finally got to watch the movie last weekend, so figured it was time for another book vs movie! (Spoilers for either/both, so be warned.)
First of all, The DUFF was written by a 17 year old girl. That's so unfair cool. ;) I gave the book 3 stars; it's a quick, easy read and I enjoyed it. Bianca and her 2 best friends are going along in their lives happily, until the resident hottie, Wesley Rush, mentions to Bianca that she's the DUFF in their little group. What's a DUFF, you ask? Designated Ugly Fat Friend. Yeah. Kind of harsh. As I'm sure you all know, words can hurt.
Calling Vikki a slut or a whore was just like calling somebody the Duff. It was insulting and hurtful, and it was one of those titles that just fed off the inner fear every girl must have from time to time. Slut, bitch, prude, tease, ditz. They were all the same. Every girl felt like one of these sexist labels described her at some point.
Of course, Bianca is pissed and hates Wesley even more than she already did. Until she doesn't...hate him, that is. You know how it goes: you think about someone so much in anger, then all of a sudden, you're just thinking about them period. So what does she do? She sleeps with him. Yeah, that's smart. And that's where the book and movie start to differ, in a huge plot-changing way. (And big spoilers after this!)
In the book, Bianca & Wesley "hook up" a LOT, which surprised me a little. You don't see that very often in a young adult book and I suppose that's why they took it out of the movie. I can't say that I agree with their reasons for removing that plot though, it's not like teens don't know it's happening. Anyway, the other main difference was the relationship between Bianca and her parents. In the book, her dad is the one who is around, and despite their
many problems, I really wanted to see that on the screen. So, as much as I love Allison Janney, I was pretty disappointed by that part of the movie. The additions to the movie (the mean girl, cyber-bullying, etc...) were all fine to me, as long as I didn't remember that it was a book lol. You really had to take these as 2 separate pieces, I think, to enjoy them. I really did like the movie and will probably buy it.
As far as the actors go, I thought they were fine. I liked the actress who played Bianca, obviously she's not fat or ugly, just normal looking but that's okay. I only watched the random odd episode of
Parenthood, so she's not ingrained as that character for me luckily. I felt like Wesley looked too old, but that's how it goes in teen movies. And I honestly just don't get the whole Bella Thorne thing. Why is she popular? The friends were fine, if forgettable. Those few scenes where Bianca & Wesley are laughing and joking around were my favorite, they felt very natural and maybe ad libbed? The romance was there, maybe more so in the book of course.
“I think about you much more than any self-respecting man
would like to admit, and I'm insanely jealous of Tucker - something I never
thought I'd say. Moving on after you is impossible. No other girl can keep me
on my toes the way you can. No one else makes me WANT to embarrass myself by
writing sappy letters like this one.
Only you.”
When I was looking for gifs/pics on Pinterest, all I kept coming up with was Lizzie McGuire. People on Pinterest are obsessed with Lizzie McGuire. So I figured I'd end this review with her, just because. You're welcome. :)
