If at first you don't succeed, cheat - that seems to be the mantra of Dewey Nicks's teen sex comedy, which wears its heart on its sleeve, but its mind in the gutter.

It's an Animal House or Porky's for the new millennium complete with gross-out comedy and plenty of female eye candy.

However, next to American Pie or Road Trip, Slackers is sadly lacking originality and a loveable hero.

Best pals Dave (Devon Sawa), Jeff (Michael C Maronna), and Sam (Jason Segel) have scammed their way through college.

They orchestrate elaborate scams to steal exam answer sheets, so they can pass their mid-terms with the least effort.

When resident geek Ethan (Jason Schwartzman) uncovers the ruse, he blackmails one of the trio, Dave, into helping him win the affections of the most beautiful girl on campus, Angela (James 'yes-it's-a-girl's name' King).

Dave is only too willing to help, to save his hide and his academic career, until he finds himself falling for Angela too.

As Ethan's patience begins to wear thin, Dave must choose between expulsion from college, or sacrificing the girl he loves.

The love triangle at the centre of Slackers in deeply unconvincing - Sawa and King share little screen chemistry, and there's little doubt who'll get the girl.

Sawa is exceedingly bland and displays little of the charisma of his breakout performance in Final Destination, while Maronna and Segel are pleasantly goofy and King is inoffensive to the eye.

Schwartzman's deranged blackmailer is neither wicked enough to be a plausible villain, nor clever enough to succeed in his plans.

He has 'Loser' tattooed on his forehead from the off.

The screenplay does manage a few honest laughs, and an equal number of groans with the constant trickle of bad taste set-pieces.