Paul Tannek (Jason Biggs) is a small rural town guy who gets a full scholarship to a NYC college. He's a dork and his partying roommates Adam (Zak Orth),Chris (Thomas Sadoski) and Noah (Jimmi Simpson) don't like him. They don't get along. The 3 jerks band together to kick Paul out, and Paul accepts going to live in an animal hospital. When the dorm tightens security, the guys talk Paul into holding a party at the hospital.

Dora Diamond (Mena Suvari) is a fellow student who is having a secret affair with Prof. Edward Alcott (Greg Kinnear) and working a horrible waitress job in a strip club. She's trying to get emancipated from her parents but doesn't have any money or a place to stay. Then she loses her job and she can't even spend the night on the jerk Alcott's couch. She goes to the party and gets drugged almost dying rescued by Paul.

The 3 roommates are just so annoying. It's completely overblown while Jason Biggs is such a naive idiot. Everybody is stepping on him. It gets ridiculous and stupid. The pretend friendships are just the most uncomfortable things to watch. The movie is overwhelmed by the three douches' annoyance. Thankfully, the second half improves significantly when the 3 jerks get less screen time. The movie turns into a functional rom-com with the adorable pairing of Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari. The movie is also notable for its 90s indie rock soundtrack. It's disheartening to realize that this was written and directed by Amy Heckerling. It's not her finest work.

From director Amy Heckerling (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Clueless),I remember seeing the DVD cover featuring the star one of the most recognisable teen movies, so I wanted to see why it was rated low. Basically Paul Tannek (American Pie's Jason Biggs) has arrived in New York City from the Midwest on an academic scholarship, and attending his new college it is obvious he is pretty out of place. He can't seem to find anyone that he can engage in a conversation or make any kind of friendship, due to a few mishaps, and being put with three spoilt party animal roommates. He is branded a loser by pretty much everyone he has come into contact with, and after being chucked out by his roommates he finds himself a job helping out and a room in a veterinary clinic. It is there that Paul meets and has an instant attraction for fellow coed student Dora Diamond (American Pie's Mena Suvari),the only person who seems to take any notice of him and his problems. He is devastated when he finds out that struggling Dora is dating and having an affair with a man nearly twenty years above her, literature teacher Professor Edward Alcott (Greg Kinnear). Slowly however she may be gaining more of a connection with the troubled Paul, the only thing that the professor wants to do with her is have sex with no affectionate complications at all. In the end, Paul may have made himself a bit more relevant in the stakes at the college, and of course Dora realises Edward is the wrong man for her, and they get together for the happy ending kiss. Also starring Zak Orth as Adam, Thomas 'Tom' Sadoski as Chris, Jimmi Simpson as Noah, Dan Aykroyd as Dad, Andy Dick as Another City Worker, Steven Wright as Panty Hose Customer, Alan Cumming as Himself / Emcee and David Spade as Video Store Clerk. I should start by saying that I did like most of the soundtrack songs, including Wheatus's "Teenage Dirtbag", The Offspring's "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)", Eiffel 65's "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" and The Bloodhound Gang's "Bad Touch". Biggs is almost the same as his most well known character, Suvari is okay as the teen having an affair, this is a film meant to have some gross moments, but to be honest I was so bored throughout that I didn't notice, not one moment made me laugh, a rubbish teen comedy romance. Poor!

I have always been the outsider as a teenager (why do you think I have hundreds of movies on my comment list),so I can relate to this film. Not because I have gone to a college from a far off land and am not familiar with the area. But because I have always known what It's like to not always get the girl, always to be alone and to have such low self-esteem you make eeyore from Winnie the Pooh look like Richard Simmons. So I can sympathize. But saying did I like the entire movie, no. Because the main heroine (Mena Suvari) knows who is the right one in her life (her choices are the teen Jason Biggs and a married professor Greg Kinnear) and takes too long to find out who the right one is (I am not revealing who that is). While she and Biggs are likeable characters, they also make dumb choices in the dating game. Sort of like Boys and Girls which came out last month. Yet, I can reccomend this film to teen film fans, Everclear fans, or fans of writer/director/co-producer Amy Heckerling's work (she is of Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Clueless fame). Just don't go into it looking for a way to find better love. B+