Very well executed

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

A mild mannered student from the country adapts to life in the big city after receiving a scholarship. This is a predictable comedy but a highly enjoyable one. Although not hilariously funny it's good to watch the relationship between Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari. Both leads are highly likable in this and Greg Kinnear is also great as the lecherous lecturer. The soundtrack that launched Wheatus to worldwide fame is an additional bonus. I have seen this film a few times now and have always enjoyed it. It's not that highly rated but everyone is allowed a guilty pleasure film. If you're looking for an easy to watch bit of fun then this is worth a view.

Amy Heckerling doesn't quite know what kind of audience she is trying to engage. If she's trying to show high school kids the problems and unexpected strife of college life in a metropolis, then she should have shown that world in a more focused way. If she's trying to be funny and quirky for the older subset than her characters should have been better written and less dickish. Besides being clinically underwritten, it's difficult to figure out who is the lead character, or at least the person we're supposed to sympathize with. Throughout the film we follow Paul (Biggs) and it seems that he is our protagonist. We feel for him when his dorm mates are mean spirited, when the girl of his dreams is misguided, and when everything tries to keep him from getting through school, but he lacks character development. He goes through hard times, but there's no resolution to be seen, and he doesn't change at all. Dora (Suvari) on the other hand has a mess of bad things happen to her, and then she changes her opinion about her relationship with her professor (Kinnear), which means she's the only character who evolves throughout the film. It seems that we should be following her, but then interwoven in her tale is that of Paul's, who just seems like some poor schmuck who never wins. Without any proper direction for our characters, and no change in their behaviors or thoughts on the world, there shouldn't really be any reason for this film to exist. It's trying to show the problems of college students, but it doesn't realistically depict them. Paul's three roommates are also pretty distracting, as they're rich, sycophantic rapists, who don't seem to get much comeuppance until the credits. Besides its plot defects it's also drab and very of its time, making this film a tiring slog.

Even though this was made in 2000 you can clearly see the very ugly and rather pretentious hair styles from the 1990s. Poor acting, sick jokes that are supposed to come off as "Dark Humor" but rather instead come off as some mentally dark diarrhea. Bad acting, a terrible script, a desperate cling to the 1990's styles that were already fading away by 1998 and a persistent eyesore of clothing style. Besides the aesthetics of the "creepy stalker hair" that make their heads shaped like hairy penises this movie had a weak premise to begin with. What might have been a feel good romantic comedy is a rather dull pencil. The dark parts were meant to bring the "dark comedy humor" into this film but fell short as it was out shined by the manic-depressive bi-polar contradictions and oxymoron writing of hacks that just could NOT MELD the darkness with the light. At times it was too light and come off as bleaching out of the dark humor. And likewise the darker aspects shat all over the light whimsy they so failed at. Poor character development, bad choices in actors, terrible script, and an inability for the creators to notice that the 1990's had actually ended culminates in this cranked out film that was clearly made to fill seats and obtain what little profits they can benefit from hipsters stuck in the 1990s. How they got a big name (well once big name) like Dan Aykroyd to accept a role in this toilet paper movie is beyond me. Let alone his willing to actually stay with the movie once having read the script and seen the terrible filming. However this was when his over all popularity was slipping so I'm guessing he was in it to appeal to younger audiences at the time. Though by 2000 this would have appealed to the aging mid 20-somethings that had failed out of college 5 times and had returned to college still spotting the homely hair styles from 1995. This film would appeal to them as they spend a night out at the movie theater desperate to pretend that it's still their earlier college years from the previous decade. It must be hard for those actors after all this time to come to the hideous realization that not only did their acting stink but their outrageously crappy hair styles are now immortalized forever on film. Those puke looking bangs and shaved up tight necklines that shape their heads like some sort of melting-penis phallic symbols is now an immortal embarrassment for them. Their bad & outdated taste in both clothing and hair styles for 2000 is a tribute and exasperation of the films terrible writing, plot, and half backed development. Even if I didn't spend that much time criticizing the god awful hair styles it is a symbol of the ignorant and out of of ideas writing for the time. Heck even by 1999 there were fantastic films being made like The Matrix. Times were changing from music to clothing styles, from hair styles to shoes. But this movie lingers like one of those old moldy hot dogs at a corner store rotisserie that no one wants anymore because it's past it's prime yet remains past it's expiration date. Not judged simply because it's old or out of date but it is now without flavor, devoid of any nutrition or value of any kind, and the simple site of looking at it will make you feel sick even without ingesting it. The title of this movie is meant to be self explanatory but is also rather Ironic.

I really enjoyed this film! Its a real and genuine feel good movie which will undoubtedly charm you. Many films you watch once and never watch again, but for me i can watch this film many times and still get that same fuzzy feeling from when i first watched it.The acting is pretty good, I think pairing Mena Suvari and Jason Briggs was perfect as they'd already worked together in American Pie. The film is also more plot to it than most teen-comedy movies. It may not be as funny as the likes of American Pie, But it has many of its own qualities. Jason Briggs does really well and you end up really liking his Character, He does a really good job at playing Mr Nice and really charming you.Give this film a watch. You never know, you might just agree with me