Buffalo can be defined as a low-income, high-crime city in New York, but it is also a word entitling intimidation. Make the word past tense, and it quickly becomes a unique and fitting title for a movie full of hustling, intimidation, and humor: Buffaloed. 

Coming from a small, blue-collar family in Buffalo, New York, Peg Dahl (Zoey Deutch) has always been a hustler. As she certainly does not come from money, Peg feels she needs to revolve her life around money and the search and desire for wealth. Through her younger years in school, she finds a way to swindle her classmates into buying items for extreme prices. Through all of the practice, she finally finds her true calling—debt collection. 

In her new position, Peg is able to roll in the cash that she has desired for her entire life. Thriving in her sketchy, criminal job with a constantly eerie atmosphere, Peg’s character becomes full of charm, humor, and irresistible quirkiness. 

Though by appearance Zoey Deutch may appear a dainty, affectionate young woman, her appearance could not be more misleading. From the opening scene, Deutch’s character is openly unafraid of others and can not be intimidated by anyone, not even the loud, brooding male hustlers of the debt collecting industry. 

Throughout the film, I found myself wrestling between the thought of loving and hating Peg. Her crude, inappropriate personality forms the thought in your head that it is impossible to like such a person, but her hilarious lines and utter rawness explode through the screen and tear away any negative thoughts revolving around Peg and her characterization. 

Not only is Zoey Deutch an excellent role for her assigned character, but each and every character fits their character without flaw. Peg’s romantic affiliation with charming lawyer Graham (Jermaine Fowler) flows perfectly into the plotline and certainly is not a distraction from the messages director Tanya Wexler portrays throughout the film. 

Despite the humorous and whimsical tone throughout Buffaloed, it entails messages that hit home for many Americans. As the issues with debt collection become more and more prominent across the nation, Buffaloed was delivered at a perfect time to help make light of a serious situation facing the country. 

2016’s hit film Why Him was playing in the back of my mind as Buffaloed ran across the TV screen. Not only did Zoey Deutch make a hilarious appearance in each of the movies, but the consistent humor and stream of jokes were strikingly similar between the two films. While Deutch’s character holds a bit more of a corrupt attitude in Buffaloed, her character is certainly fitting for her role in each spectacular film. 

While many comedy films fail to portray issues facing the world today, Buffaloed certainly does not fall into this category. Its unique characterization and screenplay set the film up to be a true comedic success.