Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot

Plot

American Loser is a comedy-drama based upon the experiences of comedian Jeff Nichols; it follows Jeff as he encounters a remarkable variety of personal and emotional problems.

Edging closer to his thirties Jeff (Seann William Scott) has a heavy drinking problem coupled with ADHD, dyslexia, and a mild case of Tourette syndrome as well as constant absent-mindedness. He spends most of his time attending support meetings including ones which have no connection to the problems he suffers.

Jeff's attempts to hold down a job end in disaster. Jeff connects with Lynn (Gretchen Mol), a woman he met at a support group for people with relationship problems, but loses her when an expensive necklace he gives her as a gift is repossessed. Jeff rents a garage from his step brother Bert, whom he knows as "Uncle Popcorn", only to fall behind on the rent. His car is repeatedly ticketed. Jeff's parents Cynthia (Deirdre O'Connell) and Mike (Denis O'Hare) try to support him, but even the simple instructions they give him drive Jeff to distraction. Bert reproves Jeff, telling him that his behavior is childish. After being evicted from Bert's garage, and with nowhere else to go, Jeff sneaks back into his parents' expensive home. With no else at home, and not wanting to cause a spike in the heating bill, Jeff uses a space heater, and accidentally burns down the house. The next morning, Jeff's parents stare at the charred wreckage of their home, baffled at the cause of the fire. Jeff's parents guess that the cause was faulty wiring. Jeff admits he burned the house down. Jeff's mother, shocked, enters the scorched remains and recovers the remains of a striped bass that Jeff caught years ago. The scene cuts to Jeff at a support group, where his tale of wrecked lives and repeated failures drives the others in the group to laughter. The support group is replaced with an audience taking in Jeff's account as a stand-up act, and loving it. Jeff tells his family that stand-up doesn't pay well, but that he has a new job.

In the final scene, a more mature Jeff is shown by a pier, getting ready to take a boat (presumably his own) out to fish. There he is visited by Lynn, now pregnant. Lynn, realizing that Jeff is improving, reconnects with him, and they go fishing.

Cast