The ’90s had Clueless. The ’00s had Mean Girls. Now a new generation has an iconic teen comedy in the form of The DUFF. DUFF is an acronym, one the movie’s protagonist Bianca (Mae Whitman) discovers stands for Designated Fat Ugly Friend, which she mistakenly believes herself to be, setting her off on a quest to change her image to better find acceptance among her high school peers. If that sounds like a teen comedy cliché, it is, but The DUFF takes a fresh and whip smart look at the genre’s well-worn tropes and leads Whitman and Robbie Amell have sparkling chemistry.
While We’re Young is an at times hilarious comic drama in which forty-somethings Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts find relief from their mid-life crises when they befriend a twenty-something couple (Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried). In terms of substantial drama, there’s little to really get your teeth into, but if you want some rib tickling fun it certainly delivers on laughs.
Playing exclusively at the Irish Film Institute, Altman is a documentary looking at the life and career of the late Robert Altman, one of American cinema’s finest filmmakers. Obviously it won’t be for everyone but if you’re a fan of the director it’s a must see.
If you didn’t catch Blade Runner: The Final Cut when it played Dublin cinemas last December, you have another chance as it returns to the IFI and Lighthouse this week.
If Blade Runner doesn’t feature enough flying cars for your tastes, the atrocious Fast & Furious 7 contains plenty. The series has gotten ludicrous at this point and this just might be the worst installment yet.
Russell Crowe makes his directorial debut with The Water Diviner, the story of an Australian farmer who travels to Turkey after World War One to find the bodies of his sons. Crowe does a decent job behind the camera but the story is muddled and a romantic subplot feels awkwardly shoehorned in.
By Eric Hillis