Movie Reviews

Loser

17 Aug 2000

When you have a romantic comedy with a title like Loser, you can generally assume that it's about someone who, in the end, will be no such thing. Once you establish that particular point, however, much of Loser's storyline is a pleasant surprise. Considering that writer-director Amy Heckerling's best film, Clueless, basically retold Jane Austen's Emma, it's nice to see that she can weave a good yarn of her own. Indeed, the plot is the best thing about this film. Sure, you know how it will end, but it has enough strands to make the journey unpredictable.

The set-up, while not exactly the stuff of classics, already makes it more interesting than many teen comedies. Paul (Jason Biggs) is a dorky, naive Midwesterner, studying in New York on a scholarship, sharing a dorm with some obnoxious rich kids who spend their time seducing female students with party drugs. Dora (Mena Suvari) is one of Paul's classmates, forced to work in a sleazy night club to pay her tuition fees, and having an illicit affair with their selfish jerk of a professor (Greg Kinnear).

Last year, Biggs and Suvari were both in the high-school comedy American Pie, but their characters didn't have much to do with each other. As this film proves, they do have a certain chemistry. Then again, Suvari has a chemistry with almost anyone. On his own, Biggs is pleasant enough, but without American Pie's most famous scene (the one in the dining room), he isn't especially interesting.

Despite the chemistry, the romance is the weakest aspect of the film. This being New York (the NY of the movies, not of reality), everyone else is either stand-offish, corrupt, or a complete bastard. These two, meanwhile, are almost appallingly nice. Moreover, despite their alleged intelligence, they continually astound you with their stupidity.

With such a sweet couple, the film relies on the villains to provide it with bite. Fortunately, even though this is a campus comedy, the bad guys are suitably odious. Not only do they provide a break in the romantic moments, but they are funnier than the heroes. Indeed, the film's highlight is at the end, when their fates are revealed. Cruel, but viciously appropriate.