Loser (2000)

A college student, branded a loser by his roommates and booted from the dorm, falls in love with a coed who has eyes for their condescending professor.

Director:

Amy Heckerling

Writer:

Amy Heckerling

Stars:

Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari, Zak Orth

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Biggs	...	Paul Tannek
Mena Suvari	...	Dora Diamond
Zak Orth	...	Adam
Thomas Sadoski	...	Chris (as Tom Sadoski)
Jimmi Simpson	...	Noah
Greg Kinnear	...	Prof. Edward Alcott
Dan Aykroyd	...	Dad
Twink Caplan	...	Gena
Bobby Slayton	...	Sal
Robert Miano	...	Victor
Mollie Heckerling	...	Annie (as Mollee Israel)
Colleen Camp	...	Homeless Woman
Andy Dick	...	Another City Worker
Steven Wright	...	Panty Hose Customer
Brian Backer	...	Doctor

Storyline

Is there room in Manhattan for a decent kid? Can a young woman see past a cad to true love? Paul, from rural upstate, comes to New York City for college. To keep his scholarship, he must study hard and do well. That makes him a loser to his partying roommates who connive to kick him out of their suite. He's assigned a room in an animal hospital. In class he meets Dora, a pretty coed who needs a job to pay for school, and who's the very young lover of their sarcastic and selfish lit professor. When Dora is slipped some drugs at a party, Paul nurses her back to health, and a friendship follows. For Paul, though, it's more than friendly feelings. Can they work things out for them to become a truly lucky couple?

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Plot Keywords:

loser | college student | male in underwear | condom | toothbrush | 

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Taglines:

Dare to be different

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for drug content, crude sexual material and language

Details

Official Sites:

Sony

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 July 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Loser

Filming Locations:

Lower Bay Station, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,008,611, 23 July 2000, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$15,618,626

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$18,404,706

Company Credits

Production Co:

Branti Film Productions, Cockamamie

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the scene where Paul sits at the fountain in the quad, the song Scarborough Fair by Simon and Garfunkel is playing. This scene is an homage to The Graduate (1967). Jason Biggs actually played the main role of Benjamin Braddock in a Broadway run of 'The Graduate'

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Goofs

When Alcott says, "If Betty Friedan were alive...," this was meant sarcastically. He's probably well aware that she was alive when the movie is set.

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Quotes

Chris: I'm gonna tell you something, and this... this is gonna be for your own good, okay?
Paul Tannek: Okay.
Chris: No one likes you.
Paul Tannek: They don't?
Chris: No. You didn't notice?

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Connections

References My So-Called Life (1994)

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Soundtracks

Sucks To Be You
Written by Jason Levine, James McCollum and Anna Goodman
Performed by Prozzäk (as Prozzak)
Courtesy of Epic Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

The Apartment Without The Class

Rented this as the freebie along with Amelie, and was stunned to discover some 15 minutes in that I was watching the most wholesale refilming of one my all time favourite movies, as Loser, transposed "The Apartment" to teenflickville. Amy Heckerling's previous reworking of classic material i.e "Emma" into the very fun "Clueless", at least had deftness of touch, sureity of footing and genuinely funny moments, along with a public acknowledgment that she was tinkering with someone elses work. Maybe she was testing out the movie going public and critics to see how knowledgeable we were or maybe she was just keeping her eye down, but it stuns me that I don't recall ever seeing in the (mostly bad) reviews I've seen of this that anyone ever brought up the obvious lift of Billy Wilder's entire movie, right down to the 3 manipulative weasly co-workers of Jack Lemmon turned into 3 manipulative weasly roomies of Jason Biggs.

Entire scenes are just reworded and refilmed, with no real spin or new take. Biggs and Suvari, while sweet and a hell of a lot better than a lot of their teen compatriots, are no Lemmon and McLaine, Greg Kinnear just doesn't have the oily charm of Fred MacMurray's original, and the ending doesn't have anything like the understated impact of the Wilder original.

Not surprised it bombed, because it's too flacid (the transposition to college life doesn't work) it doesn't work as an original, it doesn't work as a tribute (due to no new insight) and it doesn't work as a remake (class always wins out over youth). Rent the original, sit back and enjoy.