Loser

Watching Loser is a truly disturbing affair. The movie is an awful, charmless mess that dares to pass itself off as a comedy. It takes two perfectly talented young leads and forces on them two unwatchable idiotic characters. There have, of course been bad movies before so what, I hear you ask makes this particular film so disturbing? Well let me put it this way, the 1995 comedy gem Clueless was directed by the same person, one Amy Heckerling. In Loser, she has very much lost it (okay only one pun allowed per review). She has created a thoroughly confused, stupid little movie that has no real point. The loser of the title is Paul Tannek, a small-town boy who wins a scholarship to a college in the Big-bad-Apple. Once there, he finds people less-than-responsive to his unselfish, good-natured ways, especially his room-mates, a group of obnoxious rich preppies who, it seems can only live their lives by using and abusing the people around them, especially Paul. His one salvation is the growing relationship he forms with Dora, a young free-spirited woman stuck in a hopeless affair with her smarmy, self-obsessed college tutor. Watching Loser isn’t only disturbing, it is also soul crushing, for two reasons. Given the directorial pedigree, you will obviously expect a few good laughs, but you will wait … and wait … and wait. NOTHING remotely humorous happens. It is almost as if the writers haven’t even attempted to include jokes or comic set pieces, there really is NOTHING remotely resembling either. The second reason is simple: the characters involved are either astoundingly naïve morons (Paul and Dora) or mean-spirited, downright cruel assholes (the rest of the cast). Paul’s roommates are presented in a truly malicious light, thinking nothing of date rape and blackmail. Mr Alcott, Dora’s boyfriend is equally cruel when it comes to her, relaying his true feelings in unswervingly nasty, all-too blunt terms. Amongst all this inhumanity is Paul, a character who is obviously intended as the audience’s touchstone. Unfortunately, he is the “loser” the title suggests. Paul is so painfully naïve; it truly hurts watching him being used by his roommates time and again. It doesn’t hurt because you feel for him, but rather because each time the preppies screw him over it stunts the movie’s progression, leaving the central character an unsympathetic wreck. When he finally gets his revenge it is far too little too late. Dora, on the other-hand simply suffers from a girlish infatuation, blinding her, rather ridiculously from the obvious truth. The afore-mentioned mess can’t be blamed on either of the actors; the fault lies squarely at the feet of writer/director Amy Heckerling. Both Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari are actors full of charm and talent, but laboured as they are here, with such tepid creations, neither can save the movie. Greg Kinnear adds yet another irredeemably slimy character to his repertoire after his turns in Nurse Betty and Mystery Men. At the end of the day, Loser must rank as one of the worst movies this year, certainly the most misguided. Sitting here, writing this review, I still can’t get over lazy and puerile Amy Heckerling has become. She basically takes the cliché of the small fish in the big ocean and turns it all into caricature in her attempt to make some kind of social statement. I can’t think of anyone who would get anything from this film. It is clearly marketed as a teen comedy but even the most undemanding teen will find it severely lacking, of laughs and worthwhile character.