Loser (2000)

The Long Review:

Loser is one of those pain-free romantic comedies we used to live for in the 80's. The only difference is that this movie has smarter dialogue and three-dimensional characters. It tells the story of Paul (Jason Biggs) a goody-two-shoes who's the first member of his clan to make it to college. So off he goes to New York, where he's quickly labeled as a loser and falls for Dora (Mena Suvari), a wild child with a soft heart, who also happens to be taking um…after-school lessons with her English Lit professor…in his bedroom.

Now we all know how a story like this goes…But Loser still makes you wanna stay and see how it gets to that predictable end. It's heart-warming, inspiring…and you can relate to it. All of us, at some point, have fallen for that unattainable someone without a means of letting him or her know how we feel. Jason Biggs as Paul reenacts what we've all been through. And we feel better because, well, he's the one going through it and not us!! Loser, aside from taking us through the pains and joys of college-style infatuation, also gives us a pseudo-expose of the dark side of coed life. You shudder as you see just how wild (or so they say) college parties can get. But we won't give away all the good stuff. We'll let you see for yourself. Watching, you will either be turned off from college parties…or count the days until you can to go to one.

Good performances from Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari make this movie worthwhile, both of them playing social rejects oozing with innocence, who just want a break. Greg Kinnear throws in a solid acting job, too. He is the epitome of a sexy, pompous asshole of a professor who takes advantage of students' awe of him. Watching him, you're not sure whether you want to laugh at and with him, or punch the bejesus out of him. So you just sit there, aghast at his nerve and arrogance. As for pace, well, since you already know the formula of the film, it's not as if you're at the edge of your seat, wondering what's going to happen next. It's more of a relaxing bike ride than a cruise in a Ferrari. But the bottom line is, you enjoy that bike ride…and you don't have to worry about a speeding ticket. Hee-haw!!

If one was to get picky and criticize Loser, it would be for its predictability. It has no surprises. After a while, you expect the characters to do what you know they're going to do; you expect things to happen the way you know they're going to. But you're not too offended. Because Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari are just so damn adorable. And you want them to get what they want.

Overall, Loser is a plausible choice for a romantic comedy. It's light, funny, and touching.

Ebert's satisfaction:

ebert says	moviegurus say
Love is blind, and movies about that blindness can be maddening.	Yeah, it's maddening 'cuz you're jealous that you don't have it. We know we are!
"Loser" is not a love story so much as an exercise in postponing the obvious.	True, but we had fun watching the characters postpone the obvious! They were just do damn cuuuuuuuuute!!
But Dora (Suvari) is so obtuse in her inability to see through the professor and accept her love for Paul that eventually we grow impatient with her: She's sweet, smart and cute, but she's simply not an interesting enough character to justify the wait while she figures things out.	Dora was one of the most interesting parts of this movie! We love watching her try to excuse her dirtbag of a boyfriend and batting her eyelashes out of trouble.
The end notes of "Loser" are lame, and it is not encouraging when a college movie means "aid," but spells it "aide."	Really?! We didn't even notice the end notes were lame…We were too busy laughing at them. It helped a litle to unify and add closure to the movie.