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Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari burst onto the movie scene last year with memorable performances in American Pie and American Beauty, respectively. Biggs played the lovable loser who spends more time with apple pies than any female companion, while Suvari played the gorgeous Lolita whom Kevin Spacey's character pursues. So it was with some excitement that I went to see Loser, a college comedy that pairs these two rising stars.

In some ways, the two are repeating their earlier characters. This time Biggs (as Paul Tannek) is off to college, but he's still a social misfit who can't seem to do anything right. Suvari (as Dora Diamond) is again hooking up with an older man, though here her character is sweet and honest rather than trampy and mean-spirited. When our two heroes finally hook up, their scenes together are genuinely magical. Both Biggs and Suvari have great charisma, and their on-screen chemistry makes their love story truly believable.

Unfortunately, Loser spends way too much of its time on its despicable secondary characters. Paul's roommates alternately make fun of and take advantage of him, while Dora's professor boyfriend (Greg Kinnear) is only interested in her for her nubile body. Why either of our protagonists put up with these shenanigans for more than five minutes, much less the months the movie encapsulates, is never explained; and, after a while, I began to wonder if either of them were as smart as they initially seemed. All is forgiven when the two are alone, but that doesn't happen often enough.

J. Robert Parks 9/15/2000