Jason Cohen Finally thought i'd give this a watch last night, despite the critics terrible reviews of his movie, and oh dear oh dear oh dear... How right they were. Simon's character James was far too 'done to death' with 'cameos' being very few and far between of Actors i'd actually heard of! The girl who played Patch in the movie (Stephanie Leondis) was quite sweet to watch, her chemistry with James on screen was believable, but that of her bumbling friends were most certainly not. Hannah (Gemma Atkinson from Hollyoaks 'fame') was uncharismatic, wooden and dull as James's lifelong crush, along with Simon himself sometimes falling into the same lower league. I felt throughout casting could have gone to an array of more talented, realistic actors out there, although Ampersands character had his moments of greatness. All that said the end has a very funny twist with a psychiatrist, which did make me laugh. One movie though, I'd never watch again or recommend, and want that 90 mins of my life back! 3/10

Jnoirnoir1032 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.

globefighter 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.

Bill Irons OK, so I'm going to hold my hands up and admit that I was actually in attendance at the premiere of this film, it was ram packed (people sitting in the aisle's!) and I assume the audience must have at least leaned friendly. However the one thing about a comedy is that if no one laughs, the film isn't working... Well Loser brought the house down! ! It's a long, long time since I was in a cinema with such an incredible atmosphere and I go to the cinema a lot, including many premiere's. The film is packed full of great cameos and all the performances are pitch perfect, everyone seems to be having an absolute ball from Richard E Grant right through and the outtakes over the end credits seem to confirm this. OK the script hardly reinvents the wheel but it isn't short of a couple twists and turns and the end is belting, I came out with a huge grin, what more can you ask for from a British romcom?! HIGHLY recommend.