Hey there everyone, Harry here in San Diego... mourning the loss of what might have been from Amy Heckerling's LOSER... I've been being flooded with terrible terrible reviews... Folks weeping at the lost potential that they felt any film carrying her name promises. Well... I'll perhaps check it out... if only to prove that there is no way it can suck as bad as BOYS & GIRLS...
Hey Harry, Capone in Chicago here with a look at Amy Heckerling's latest, LOSER. But first a question: When did they start making film stock out of pure shit?
Damn! Damn! Damn! I wish this movie had been good. Writer-director Amy Heckerling is a talented filmmaker with a decent track record (CLUELESS, EUROPEAN VACATION, JOHNNY DANGEROUSLY, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH). Sure she directed the first two LOOK WHO’S TALKING movies, but they were kind of cute, right? Okay regardless of what you think of talking baby movies, her first film since CLUELESS is an absolute failure and begs another question, “What the hell went wrong?”
The first problem is the film’s title. Despite what the commercials lead you to believe, lead actor Jason Biggs (AMERICAN PIE and Harry’s favorite, BOYS AND GIRLS) isn’t a loser. He plays a really nice, slightly shy, Seattle kid who moves to New York City to attend college. His biggest fault is that he hangs out and lives with a bunch of assholes. His three roommates are so cruel and do such horrible things to him and his possessions that he is forced to move out of his dorm and into a spare room at an animal hospital run by his school. Sometimes evil pranks can be funny, but here, they’re just mean and every moment these three are on screen I felt turned off to the film. Good work, Ms. Heckerling, cluttering your film with totally unlikeable characters.
All of which is too bad, because Biggs’ Paul character is actually the sweetest and most normal role he’s had in his short career. Also fairly well written and acted is the role of Dora Diamond (great porn name), Mena Suvari, also from AMERICAN PIE. (She was the cheerleader covered in flowers in AMERICAN BEAUTY.) Although, it’s tough even to like her character because she makes such monumentally bad decisions and judgement calls throughout the film. First off, she’s dating the biggest asshole in the film, her literature professor, played with mucho venom by Greg Kinnear, and she seems a little dopey on top of things. She works as a waitress in a strip club (she does not play a stripper as previously reported), and she’s shocked when men hit on her. Duh!
There’s a whole sequence involving the band Everclear that I’m pretty sure was put in just so Heckerling could get a somewhat trendy band in her film, but it takes up way too much time and goes nowhere. There’s also a thoroughly loathsome scene where one of the asshole roommates slips Dora some kind of date-rape drug and nearly takes advantage of her condition. Nothing funnier than attempted sexual assault, Ms. Heckerling. Instead of being raped, Nora has to be taken to the hospital to have her stomach pumped. Oh, stop! My sides ache from the belly laughs!
LOSER is a mess from the outset and goes downhill from there. Huge misstep from a promising talent.
Capone
