The Baxter

The Baxter is a 2005 film written by, directed by and starring American comedian Michael Showalter. A Baxter, as defined by the film, is the nice, dull guy in a romantic comedy who is dumped at the end of the story for the protagonist.

Eliot is a dependable and reliablethough thoroughly averageyoung man with a streak of bad luck. It seems that he is terminally typecast as a nice guy in a life that mimics the clichs of typical romantic comedies. In High School he was stood up by his date on Prom night when her exboyfriend, the most popular kid in school, swept her off her feet while he was getting drinks. In college, his next serious girlfriend was wooed back by her exboyfriend during a pep rally when he announced that he would abandon the Lacrosse team in favor of attending her music audition to Juilliard. Later, during business school, the same thing happens when he and his thengirlfriend are intercepted by one of her exboyfriends with a puppy. Having lost three girlfriends to their exboyfriends has made Eliot defensive at the proposition of being abandoned yet again and having his heart broken.About a week before his wedding to his girlfriend, Caroline Swann, he discovers that she had a longlost love in High School, Bradley, from whom she was inseparable. Eliot tries to keep himself composed, but even his Carolines reassurances do not convince him that her feelings for Bradley are buried. Though he makes a lastditch effort to convince her to elope, she refuses, and Eliot starts bracing himself for the worst when Bradley drops by and begins trying to win Carolines affections again. In frustration, Eliot has a chance encounter with an office temp, Cecil Michelle Williams, who shares the same elevator with him while he blurts out his unfortunate past. As he resigns himself to losing Caroline to Bradley, Cecil offers him a ray of hope she does not believe in Baxters and thinks that his predicament is avoidable. ........

Source: Wikipedia