McG goes in another direction after his “Nemo” sunk.
Okay, with everyone trudging back to work after the holiday weekend, news is a little slow today. With that in mind, I bring you this tiny bit of something: according to Variety, McG plans to adapt “The DUFF,” a young adult novel written by Kody Keplinger. Here’s a summary from ComingSoon (Variety is, of course, paywalled):
Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “Duffy,” she throws her Coke in his face.
But things aren’t so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.
Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.
First, just let me say that I know the business and appreciate how hard it is to get a book published, so congratulations to the author. Second, it certainly is refreshing to see a young adult book that’s not a cheap “Twilight” knock off featuring love amongst the undead. But having said that, dear lord, this book sounds just dreadful. Okay, I’ll give you the point that a good writer can make any idea, no matter how hackneyed, better, but I just want to bang my head against a wall reading this synopsis. As an inconsequential piece of beach read fluff? Sure, I guess. But to go to the bother of making it into a movie? The big conflict is the heroine realizing that she likes a guy she thought she didn’t like. So…what’s the problem? Other than saying, “Oops, I was wrong,” is there anything else? It’s not like we’re talking forbidden love here. It just sounds weak. Of course she’s cynical. Maybe she can crack wise, just like that “Juno” girl. Of course she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends. Until someone tells her that she really is beautiful. Of course she’s smart. That makes it easier for an adult writer to handle a teen character, because if she’s wise beyond her years, than that means she’s just like the author.
Okay, enough snarking about a book I haven’t read. That’s totally not fair. And this is a movie blog, not a young adult lit blog. So, from a movie point, you might say that it’s an odd choice for McG, who many people associate more with action/genre pieces. I guess the closest qualification we can find to make McG the choice for this movie is “We Are Marshall.” That had college age characters and didn’t involve any futuristic battles for the fate of mankind. Other than that, ho hum.
