The Duff Evokes Deja Vu for 80s Teen RomComs

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Submitted by RJ Carter on Wed, 11/19/2014 - 14:12

Does anybody remember the 80s movie CAN'T BUY ME LOVE that launched nerdy Patrick Dempsey into becoming a sex symbol?

Don't worry if you missed it, because with CBS Films' and Lionsgate's THE DUFF you'll get another shot at the plot. Mae Whitman plays Bianca, a high school student who learns by accident that she is the DUFF of her group -- the Designated Ugly Fat Friend, whose job it is to make all the others look better by comparison. Determined to make herself over, she recruits the popular athlete (Robbie Amell), offering to tutor him into passing his science exams if he will teach her how to de-DUFF herself. But she runs into opposition from the school's Queen Bee (Bella Thorne) who doesn't like it when people try to bust out of the labels she's slapped on them.

A cute film with the ever-popular, never-heeded message about body image and self-assurance, THE DUFF hits theaters in February 2015 -- perhaps as a Valentine's date flick for teens. Check out the trailer below and see if you can segregate it from CAN'T BUY ME LOVE, MEAN GIRLS, JUST ONE OF THE GUYS, and the rest of the high school finding yourself films of history.