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?

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

Dare to be different

---

Genres:

Comedy | Romance

---

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

Paul's dorm is called Hunt's Hall. Audiences, especially older, might take this as an allusion to actor Huntz Hall, who was born in New York City (the setting of this film). Huntz played Horace DeBussy "Sach" Jones, a lively buffoon in the Bowery Boys film series, which followed his time as a Dead End Kid in Dead End and in the subsequent Dead End Kids series. It would be an appropriate connotation, in that the Chris, Adam and Noah characters are all buffoons as well as dead end kids (hedonistic young males with no real future).

---

Goofs

During the Everclear performance, the drumming sounds do not match the drummer's movements.

---

Quotes

Chris: Come on! You're my asshole buddy. Look, since O'Brien died...
Paul Tannek: What?
Chris: O'Brien, on the eighth floor, he died. So they've instituted this new policy where they're, like, doing grocery inspections to make sure there's no alcohol coming in, and they're doing spot checks to make sure that there's, like, one guest per person. Just because one guy can't monitor his buzz, all of us got to suffer.

---

Connections

References The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992)

---

Soundtracks

Magna Cum Nada
Written by Jimmy Pop (as Jimmy Pop Ali)
Performed by Bloodhound Gang (as The Bloodhound Gang)
Courtesy of Republic/Geffen Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

I understand it's not the most amazing film ever shot, but it's one of my favorites anyway

I just love this movie. Just like another review on here said, to me it his kind of close to home. I've never been too lucky with the ladies this movie just seemed very personal to me. and while some i guess thought they weren't that great of a pair, i honestly loved the interaction between the two main characters. this is one of those "i really wish that kind of thing would happen to me" and it's a movie that i really enjoy watching to kind of "escape" for a little bit. i also think it is just overall a pretty good movie despite it's incredibly low rating. i think the three roommate characters are quite amusing, it has a lot of funny quotes and plot events, and a lot of the drama is good too. overall this is just in my opinion a very entertaining movie and it has a somewhat unique effect on me and will always be one of my favorites.