At the cinema: The DUFF
Question: when, in your opinion, was the last really good American high school movie? Pitch Perfect was set at uni, so doesn’t count. We’re struggling to come up with one, and it’s incredible to think Mean Girls was eleven whole years ago. The DUFF may not quite match that Lindsay Lohan/Rachel McAdams classic, but it’s certainly the best teen comedy we’ve seen in a long while. Mae Whitman stars as Bianca, a high school senior who is perfectly happy until one day she is informed she is her friendship group’s DUFF (designated ugly fat friend), whose role is to make everyone else look better and act as approachable ambassador for any males who wish to know if they stand a chance with her prettier pals. The insensitive jock (Robbie Amell – funny, handsome) who makes this claim is also her next-door neighbour and former childhood pal, and he agrees to help her shed her DUFF status in exchange for helping him with a subject he is flunking. You can guess where this is heading, but it’s fun watching it go there.
On DVD: Horrible Bosses 2
In 2011, Horrible Bosses was one of the year’s more surprising hits: a doofus comedy starring Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis as loser mates with nightmare employers. It’s not a concept that naturally yields a sequel (one of the original bosses is in fact killed in the first film), but they managed to make one regardless. This time, the pals are launching their own company, manufacturing a pointless product called a Shower Buddy, and things go awry after they receive a promise of backing from a rich investor (Christoph Waltz) and his spoilt son (Chris Pine). Jennifer Aniston steals the show again as the world’s naughtiest dentist, and the film delights in getting her to say the filthiest dialogue imaginable. Horrible Bosses 2 won’t go down in history as a classic sequel, but it does deliver a fair few LOLs, and moderate alcohol is probably going to help.
On TV: I Give It A Year (Saturday, Channel 4, 9.20pm)
The British romcom has been in a fairly follow period lately – we quite liked Cuban Fury last year, but it didn’t exactly pack out cinemas. One challenge for filmmakers is who to cast: Britain has a rich trove of film actors, but they tend to have made their name in dramatic work, and Simon Pegg can’t be in everything. With I Give It A Year, writer-director Dan Mazer rolled the dice on Rafe Spall, who proved very winning as one half of a mismatched couple, opposite Rose Byrne. Bonus treats come with Olivia Colman as the world’s worst relationship counsellor, Stephen Merchant as Rafe’s filter-free best friend, and Minnie Driver as Rose’s feisty sister, spitting disappointment at marriage to doctor Jason Flemyng. Mazer ended up in Hollywood, and is currently making a comedy called Dirty Grandpa with Zac Efron and Robert De Niro. Our loss is their gain.