Recently,
I had the chance to sit through a dreadful little romantic comedy called Boys
and Girls (which also featured Loser star Jason Biggs), and I have to tell you
that this new film from writer, director Amy Heckerling is just as lost a cause.
Jason
Biggs plays a young man who hopes to make a world of friends when he gets to college.
Unfortunately, when he arrives, he's immediately branded a loser by his roommates.
Through the course of his semester he finds himself falling hopelessly in love
with a fellow student played by Mena Suvari (American Beauty). Although a deep
friendship blossoms, Biggs is unaware that Suvari is actually involved with one
of her professors played with smarmy delight by Greg Kinnear.
Heckerling
is no stranger to youth comedies. After all, she directed the hilarious Fast Times
at Ridgemont High as well as the surprisingly likable Clueless. That's what makes
Loser such a shame. Apparently, Heckerling drew from past experiences, but this
film seems to have no honest insight into what makes young people tick. Suvari
is more annoying than anything else, and when a group of mean students aren't
making fun of autism or framing professors, their out drugging womens' drinks
so they can score. This is supposed to be comedy? The only one that really seems
to be trying here is Biggs, a rather likable actor who brings more humanity and
resonance to his part than the film really deserves. Aside from one funny, and
inspired moment in the film that features a great cameo by David Spade, Loser
is completely void of humor and heart.
It's
just another one of those dumb movies in which it takes the entire film for the
main characters to figure out what was painfully obvious from the very beginning.
The film isn't funny, nor is it honest. It's just a calculated mess with one nasty
mean streak. What's in the title? EVERYTHING!
