ollege. It's a time to hit the books, prepare for your future and learn how to be a mature adult. At least that's what most of us keep telling our parents.

  For the characters in Loser, college is anything but. Take Dora Diamond, played by powerhouse actress Mena Suvari of American Beauty and American Pie fame.
Fresh to the Big Apple, Diamond is trying
her hardest to fit in and make the grade. But her idea of achieving stellar marks means dating her English Lit professor, played by Oscar nominee Greg Kinnear (Mystery Men, You've Got Mail).

  Paul Tanneck, played by American Pie alumnus Jason Biggs, is also trying to get by in the rough-and-tumble world of college life. As the nerdy, good natured kid who's also new to the Manhattan scene, he's taunted by his girl-chasing roommates and everyone on campus either hates him or ignores him.

  Right from the start, Tanneck falls in love with Diamond and they quickly become friends. When he starts working for the local veterinary, the two losers take a turn for the best. He lets her use the vet's address to apply for financial aid and provides a space for his college buddies to party until the keg runs out.
But when he figures out that Diamond is having an affair with her prof, Tanneck realizes that she's his ticket to getting an "A" in English Lit. Was Biggs' college days comparable to his character?

  "I can relate to Paul because I can understand feeling out of place. I'm sure almost everyone can relate at some point in their life to feeling as completely out of place as he does," Biggs explains. "I grew up in a small town in New Jersey and went to study at New York University, and when I first got there I felt kind of lost and uncomfortable and not sure where I was going or what I was doing."

  For the recently married Suvari, being a campus freshman isn't something she's tackled in real life, but she's happy to have graduated from being known as the quirky high school debutante in American Pie to a laughable college student in Loser.

  "I think I've been in high school long enough, so I was really excited to play a college student," she says. "Dora comes across as tough and assertive, but she's a totally good person at heart."

  Comedy writer and director Amy Heckerling (Fast Times at Ridgmont High, Clueless), is accustomed to zany characters who are trying to do the best they can. It was also another chance to offer a hilarious look at a semester in the life of college students.

  "I decided to tell the story about the people who don't have the money to buy new things, the people who don't have it all, who don't fit in - the sort of displaced characters who are not invited to the party," she said in a recent interview. "I guess you can call Loser the anti-Clueless."

- Zack Medicoff