Loser (film)

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Directed by	Amy Heckerling
Produced by	Twink Caplan John M. Eckert Amy Heckerling
Written by	Amy Heckerling
Starring	Jason Biggs Mena Suvari Zak Orth Greg Kinnear Jimmi Simpson Dan Aykroyd
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	20 July 2000
Running time	98 min.
Language	English
Budget	$20 000 000
IMDb profile

Loser is a 2000 romantic comedy film starring Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari and Greg Kinnear. It is about a small town teenager who is accepted into New York University and must cope with the pressures of the city. The tagline of the film is Dare to be Different.

1 Plot
2 Reception
3 Cameos
4 Goofs
5 Trivia
6 External links

[edit] Plot

The plot focuses on hapless college student Paul Tannek (Biggs), who has moved from a small town in the midwest and is attending New York University on a scholarship. He finds bad luck everywhere, with his room mates causing problems, his grades slipping, and his inability to make any friends.

But that's when he meets Dora (Suvari), a seemingly perfect student, trying to support her education. Paul befriends her and soon falls in love with her, but is crushed to discover she already has a boyfriend...

[edit] Reception

The film was met with mostly negative reviews[1], with Roger Ebert giving the film only two stars[2]. It scored 5/10 at IMDB and a low 4.3/10 at Rotten Tomatoes, with a fresh rating of only 25%.

The film generated a total of $15.6 million in the US. It failed further when released worldwide, grossing a total of just $2.7 million. The film was therefore unable to break even on its production costs, let alone make a profit. Additionally, because film makers only receive half of the box office gross, the film would have fallen short by at least $10 000 000[3].

[edit] Cameos

Loser contains several cameos, the most notable of which is David Spade's cameo as a video store clerk who advises Paul on which film to rent, as well as a cameo by stand-up comedian Steven Wright as the "bar dude". Rock band Everclear also make an appearance when Paul buys tickets to go to their concert in an effort to befriend Dora. Several other smaller cameos include Colleen Camp as a homeless woman who helps Dora at the beginning of the film and Alan Cumming at the Cabaret scene (the male lead).

[edit] Goofs

Dora convinces her seemingly over protective mother that she is spending the night with a friend in the "all-girl's dorm." Later, she basically moves in with Professor Alcot for what seems like several nights without a mention of what she would say to her mother.
Near the start of the film when Dora is rushing to catch the "11:50" train, the station clock clearly reads 9:59.
After Dora has been taken to the hospital, she wakes up in Paul's bed. She then apologizes for using his bed and thanks him for taking her to the hospital, despite the fact that she was unconscious for the entire time.
During a fight with Dora, Professor Alcot says that he is sure Betty Friedan "would applaud your [her] little epiphany" if she were still alive, but Betty Friedan did not die until 2006, 6 years after the film's release.

[edit] Trivia

This is the second film to star both Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari, the first being American Pie
The name Dora Diamond is an allusion to Dora Diamant
Despite being set in New York City, large parts of the movie were filmed in Toronto.