The Duff review: not quite up to Mean Girls’ standards

'Duff', for those readers who are not fluent in eyeroll, stands for 'designated ugly fat friend'. And The Duff is a sociologically inspired novel in the mould of Mean Girls, now transformed into a major motion picture.

The premise, if not the patois, is familiar. Seventeen-year-old Bianca (Mae Whitman) is the smart, cynical brains of her triumvirate of BFs, also comprising hot chicks Jess (Skyler Samuels) and Casey (Bianca A Santos).

When Bianca’s childhood chum turned “man-slut” football captain Wes (Robbie Amell) points out that Bianca is the Duff of her crew, she chucks a drink in his face. But the term soon becomes a niggling neurosis that comes between Bianca and her friends.

And so, Bianca strikes up a pact with Wes, whereby she teaches him chemistry and he teaches her how to date, so that she might have a shot with sensitive guitarist Toby (Nick Eversman).

Sadly, the arrangement is jeopardised when an embarrassing video of Bianca goes viral.

The Duff really, really wants to be Mean Girls or Clueless when it grows up, and even if it's not quite there, we admire the intention.

Director Ari Sandel has fun with the vagaries of text talk and nine-minute internet wonders, allowing relevant bubbles to pop-up on screen. The screenplay is witty, boasting a decent quota of jokes.

Veterans, including Allison Janney and Ken Jeong, provide lovable cameos, though ultimately the film belongs to its charming leads, Whitman and Amell.

As ever, The Duff's duff is not a duff, even by the sky-high standards of the movieverse.

She is, rather, someone who looks two per cent less like Keira Knightley than the rest of the cast. Why must fables of teenage non-conformity conform so?