Loser

Loser
Cast: Jason Biggs
Studio: Columbia
Rating: 5/10

In the press kit for the new movie Loser, Mena Suvari is described as “an acting force to be reckoned with.” Bloated hyperbole to be sure, especially when describing someone who has been in only a handful of films, but she is easily the most appealing thing about Loser. She and Jason Biggs (who enjoyed warm pastry last summer in American Pie) costar as supposedly outcast freshmen Dora Diamond and Paul Tannek. Dora is a down-on-her-luck suburban waif with too much eyeliner and Paul is a small-town dweeb who apparently has never been around another person his own age. Only in Hollywood could outcasts be as good looking and charming as these two try not to be.

Loser is the latest film from director Amy Heckerling, the brain behind Clueless and Fast Times At Ridgemont High, two of the best youth-oriented movies ever made. With that kind of pedigree, Loser should have been a lot better. Part of the problem is how this movie is being marketed. The radio and television spots would lead one to believe that Loser is a raucous teen flick about sex and partying. It isn’t. It’s more of a light romantic date movie with a few funny lines. The pacing is slow and the plot formulaic. Loser is one of those movies where everyone in the theater, and probably some not in the theater, know what’s going to happen before any of the characters do. We know who will get who, and it’s virtually tension-free getting there.

The acting is fine. Mena Suvari is seriously cute. Jason Biggs is also appealing, but not nearly as nerdy as his role called for. Greg Kinnear is well cast as the oily Professor Alcott, boyfriend of Dora. Paul’s three roommates (capably played by Zak Orth, Tom Sadoski and Jimmi Simpson) are amusing, but the script can’t decide whether to make them hilarious or creeps. They end up being mostly unfunny creeps. There are a bunch of cameos from both recognizable and where-have-I-seen-him/her-before performers that had less impact than they should have. Overall, Loser is about wasted potential. The building materials were high quality, but the final piece feels thrown together and shaky.

+ David Kern


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