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

The scene featuring David Spade was filmed in Toronto's first specialty video store Revue Video. Since the store specializes in films (Foreign Language and Classics) other than the ones feature in the scene, the whole look of the store had to be changed.

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Goofs

At the hospital, Paul is capable of giving Dora Diamond's full name to the doctor. But he was told Dora's first name only by her a few hours before, when he invited her to the Everclear concert. He's not supposed to know her last name at this moment.

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Quotes

Chris: Whoa! Whoa! Wha-what's goin' on?
Inspector: Inspections for drugs and alcohol.
Noah: What?
Adam: Since when?
Student: O'Brien from the eighth floor's in a coma.
Chris: So?
Student: So the board instigated some new policies.
Adam: [overlapping the next two lines] That-that-that-that-that-that-that...
Noah: This is whack!
Chris: Can they even DO this?
[...]

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Connections

References Friends (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

Hits a little close to home

I have always been the outsider as a teenager (why do you think I have hundreds of movies on my comment list), so I can relate to this film. Not because I have gone to a college from a far off land and am not familiar with the area. But because I have always known what It's like to not always get the girl, always to be alone and to have such low self-esteem you make eeyore from Winnie the Pooh look like Richard Simmons. So I can sympathize. But saying did I like the entire movie, no. Because the main heroine (Mena Suvari) knows who is the right one in her life (her choices are the teen Jason Biggs and a married professor Greg Kinnear) and takes too long to find out who the right one is (I am not revealing who that is). While she and Biggs are likeable characters, they also make dumb choices in the dating game. Sort of like Boys and Girls which came out last month. Yet, I can reccomend this film to teen film fans, Everclear fans, or fans of writer/director/co-producer Amy Heckerling's work (she is of Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Clueless fame). Just don't go into it looking for a way to find better love. B+