How to Stop Being a Loser (2011)

Most of the reviews here seem to be one extreme or the other – either that it was amazingly good, or awfully bad. I'd have to say it falls somewhere in the middle. I will agree, however, that the term "romantic comedy" is a bit liberally applied as it more closely follows the conventions of a sex comedy.Not being from the UK, I had no idea who most of the actors were (save for Richard Grant and Colin Salmon whom I've seen here and there), so I didn't walk into this with any preconceived notions of their reputations or general bodies of work. That may have helped, since a couple of the reviewers seem disappointed at the level of screen time from the supporting cast. I wanted to watch the film purely based on the vibe of the trailer, which reminded me a lot of the teen comedies that exploded out of the late 90s/early 2000s.James (Simon Phillips) is your run-of-the-mill "loser" whose best friend Ian (Richard Grant) commits suicide after succumbing to the depression of his status as a "dateless wonder." In a delayed video message, Ian pleads for James not to end up like him. Motivated by this, James enlists the tutelage of local pick-up artist Ampersand (Craig Conway) to teach him the elusive skills of attracting and seducing women. James has a few setbacks using Ampersand's techniques – which rely on trickery, shameless schmoozing, and insults – but he eventually manages to succeed in catching the attention of his gorgeous high school crush, Hannah (Gemma Atkinson). Things go awry when his friends challenge his new priorities, and James struggles to reconcile between being himself or changing his life to keep the girl of his dreams.So there you have it: your standard tale of morality served on a platter of comedy. The film's message is simple: be yourself, because anything else is not worth it. It also takes a humorous look at the "douchebags get all the girls" angle and cautiously points out that you get what you give. As to whether or not the material is funny, that is entirely subjective. Personally, I found myself laughing out loud on a few occasions at the hopelessly awkward social interactions. The movie itself is presented as a narrative recounted by James in a visit to a psychologist (Colin Salmon), who doubles as both an audience surrogate by unprofessionally voicing his third-party commentary on the story and as an added source of humor for cutaway bits.As far as the characters, you've got your usual fare: the stereotypical geek, the nerdy-but-attractive female friend, the hot crush that every guy wants, and the well-intentioned purveyor of misguided wisdom. Phillips and Simon play their parts as caricatures – which many forget is a completely normal convention of funny genres – whilst Stephanie Leonidas (best friend Patch) hits it perfectly in the middle and Atkinson (purposefully) alternates between subdued and caricature. The over-exaggeration of James and Ampersand is most certainly intentional, and if you don't understand why, then you don't understand the basic principles of comedy characterization. When comparing, it's easy to dismiss one bunch as too hammy and the other bunch as too flat, but it's simply the large contrast in energy level that gives it that appearance. Hannah is the perfect example of that concept as she goes from one to the other to best display both aspects of her as a person. No, they don't give award-winning performances, but they're not blocks of wood on screen, either.***SPOILER***The romantic twist ending wasn't exactly a surprise, but then again, the "Hot Crush" only ever comes in two flavors. In both scenarios, she is always objectified and of a high social standing, but she is either a.) secretly unhappy with her life, or b.) secretly a total bitch. If she's not one then she's always the other. There was a red flag in just about every single one of Hannah's scenes, but they did at least mix in a few Type A behaviors to try and throw you off. However, hooking up with Patch dances dangerously between being contrived and being foreshadowed. She remembers James doesn't like cheese, but then casually tries to hook him up with her single friend. James almost confesses to deeper feelings towards the very end, but never displayed anything more than platonic friendship up until that point.***END SPOILER***Is the plot cliché? Absolutely. Does it come complete with stock characters? Absolutely. I went into the movie expecting a certain kind of dynamic, and that's exactly what I got. At nearly two hours in run time they had plenty of room to polish the script a little more, but I was entertained, and that is always what I want to walk away with when watching these kinds of genres. If you like this type of movie, give it a try, and if not, you are better off on some other page.

Pretty rubbish. That's about the easiest way i can sum this up. James (a loser) hires Ampersand (a pick up artist) to help him snare the girl of his dreams, who then turns out to be selfish and mean. With that, he realises that his best friend (a hot girl) was there for him all along and liked him just the way he was. Not the most original story. Comparisons with the plot of Hitch and Crazy Stupid Love are obvious. But to put this film in the same category as those two would be a grave mistake indeed. I love Independent British films. I love finding hidden gems, or spotting new talent in smaller films, and then watching their careers grow. However, this is not a hidden gem. There are no new talents to be discovered here. The faces we recognise (Richard E. Grant, Martin Compston, Neil Maskell, Colin Salmon, Sheridan Smith, Jill Halfpenny, Craig Conway) can all chalk this one down to 'keeping busy.' They will all undoubtedly continue onwards in their careers and see this as a mere blip. Not sure anyone who was trying to make a name for themselves with this one will be as lucky. Gemma Atkinson, who would have seen this as a chance to put the lad mags behind her and get some credibility comes up short. Here she plays the object of the central character James' desires, but as said, she is revealed to be shallow and selfish. Atkinson doesn't really show any range or charisma, and on the evidence of this wont be working in anything of a higher quality anytime soon. Simon Phillips who plays the loser in the title, James, is quite honestly appalling. He seems to spend most of the film playing a severe caricature of what I assume he thinks is a geek. Every Cliché is present and accounted for. Fat, check, glasses, check etc, etc. He seems to have only two emotions, and both of them appear to involve an OTT gurning facial expression. Although Im sure everyone can relate to the difficulty of finding a partner - the real big problem was that I just didn't like James. Maybe it's because of the way he was written, but I think Phillips performance took me out of what was already a bad film and left me with very little to enjoy from watching it. He over played every scene. The Director, Dominic Burns must be commended for managing to attract the solid supporting cast mentioned earlier, but then immediately berated for wasting their talents with this guff. Any subtlety to be found in the jokes was wringed out of it and replaced with BIG bravado and hammy,contrived delivery. He cant seem to make up his mind as to what this film is? Is it a romantic comedy. (No. It's not romantic. Or very funny.) Is it a balls out gross sex comedy. (No. It's crass, but again, not funny.) Is it an office/Curb awkward embarrassing type chuckle? (No. It's embarrassing, but only because it's not funny.) I feel like I am being harsh, but it's just that I cant think of many positives in this film. It's utterly charmless and quite boring.

What better way to warm yourself during an ever worsening English winter than this lil gem? Haha They should put that on the poster!!! I LOVED it! Made me cry! Couldn't believe it! Haven't cried at a film in absolutely ages!!! Haha Craig Conway who plays Ampersand is sooooo funny, I remember finding him funny in Doomsday, I'm not sure if I was supposed to find him funny in that film but my days was he funny in this one. And Gemma Atkinson, I would actually marry her, seriously, she is soooooo sexy, and there's no way on planet earth that Simon Phillips would get near her in real life but in this film they manage to sell it.

I have an idea how difficult it is to make an independent film but at the same time you always have to remember that the general people who go to the cinema don't care, all they're interested in is being entertained. After all they pay the same for a movie ticket to a tiny Brit film as they do for a ticket to Transformers! So when I went into an insider screening of HTSBAL at Showcase I tried very hard to see through they eyes of someone who doesn't know the work that goes into these projects. I'm not sure if I managed that but what I am certain of is that I thought this film was quite brilliant, hilarious as it is heartfelt, the humour balancing perfectly with the character development and the story exposition. The performances were all round strong with no exception and the chemistry between our principals Phillips, Conway, Atkinson and Leonidas was great, I know three of them have worked together again and this comes as no surprise to me. Plus the outtakes at the end had me rolling, I love it when films do outtakes. I think I may actually have to check it out one more time.