Adorkable: Nadine, usually involving her awkward attempts to get closer to Nick.
Alternate Character Interpretation: Krista. Was she just an innocent third party roped into the chaos of Nadine and Darian's life who can't be faulted for how she feels about Darian, or an Opportunistic Bastard who was willing to abandon Nadine (who had been there for her their entire childhood) when the opportunity to be popular presents itself to her?
Award Snub: There was also a decent amount of buzz over the movie, but was completely overlooked come Oscar Season.
Crosses the Line Twice: Most of Nadine's and Mr. Bruner's conversations qualify. A teacher mocking a student for telling him she's going to commit suicide should not be as funny as it is.
Ensemble Dark Horse: To many, Hayden Szeto is a real standout in his role as Nadine's awkward admirer Erwin Kim.
Darian grabs Nadine during one of their earlier fights after he and Krista get together, and he later tries to forcibly drag her to his car at Mr. Bruner's house. Such scenes are already pretty upsetting in context, but become borderline unsettling now that Blake Jenner has been exposed for abusing his ex-wife Melissa Benoist.
The scene where Nadine accidentally sends an embarrassing text to Nick is Played for Laughs in many of the trailers. Knowing that the scene comes after Nadine has a fight with her Mom at work, where she tells Nadine that her father would be disappointed in who she had become, visibly breaking Nadine and causing her to speed off in her Mom's car makes it a lot less funny to watch.
Hollywood Homely: Nadine is this to many viewers. Even in baggy clothes and not wearing makeup, Hailee Steinfeld still doesn't look like someone that guys would ignore. This may be intentional, as the movie may be trying to say that Nadine's unpopularity stems from her reluctance to get close to others, not from her appearance. Possibly Lampshaded when Nadine makes a sex joke to Krista and a guy walking by reacts with eagerness.
Jerkass Woobie: Nadine, Mona, and Darian, though they all lean much closer to the Woobie side of the scale by the end of things.
Unintentionally Sympathetic: The film has Nadine drive home that she knows she's been self-centered, mean and chatty — but she's also spent the entire movie ignored, belittled, and mocked, making one wonder if it's possible for her to be self-centered when she's one of the only people who cares about her well-being. Mona has openly favored Darian for Nadine's entire life and never cared to learn about what was bothering her own grieving, depressed daughter (and even brought up that her beloved father would be disappointed in her, when Nadine clearly wants and needs help and understanding) while Nadine had to be the one to comfort and reassure her mother. And though Nadine was wrong in forcing her best friend to choose between her and her brother (who doesn't consider the feud any of his business to solve despite willingly pursuing the relationship), she never gets a decent apology from either for their behavior and has to be the one to apologize.
