Hey everybody! I have to tell ya, I’m startled, shocked, stunned, flummoxed and flabbergasted. I just watched The Duff and loved it. It’s not great writing, it’s just not. It’s not a great plot or story, they’re pretty much standard. It’s not even great characters or acting, they too are pretty average. What makes The Duff so much fun to watch is some kind of weird synergy: the whole of the movie is greater than the sum of it’s parts.

The main characters, Bianca (Mae Whitman) and Wesley (Robbie Amell) have been friends since childhood and find themselves working together. That is, until all the old fun stuff comes back. She has a great “monster voice” and he is genuinely likeable and caring. Friends again! It doesn’t seem likely they’ll get together, too much history, but it’s fun to see if they will.

The film is filled with cliche’s…like the scruffy girl that can’t get a date, and the jock that can’t pass science, but once again it doesn’t matter. I can list dozens of teen movies with the nearly the same plot. My personal favorites are: Better Off Dead, Can’t Buy Me Love and Just One of the Guys and each of these are better movies and have some “firsts,” but are still filled with teen cliches.

The Duff seems like just another one in the pack but it’s somehow more. I trust that, like me, you’ll start off the film wondering what the heck; this is just the same old story and not as good. But, once again, like me, you may wake up and realize there’s something special here.

I’m not going to rate the film, check out Rotten Tomatoes for that, but I heartily recommend you watch The Duff. You may be pleasantly surprised. As always, whether you want to throw stones (or money) go to: #260-573-0015, for voice mail (we’ll play it on the show), or you can email them to us at: moviemadnesspodcast@gmail.com. You can also post them to Twitter, Facebook or the Ultimate Movie Geeks community on Google+