The Party Animal is a documentary-style comedy about a sex-starved man, Pondo Sinatra, a 26-year-old college student whom everyone agrees is doomed to die a virgin. Desperate to break what seems to be a cosmic curse, he tries ever more bizarre schemes to seduce one the sexy, scantily-clad women who seem to be everywhere, taunting him and enjoying his misery. Despite his best efforts, however, he is rejected everywhere, even at the local cathouse. When Pondo threatens to kill himself, Studley, his ladykilling best friend, tries to help him in his quest to "get him a little", as does Studley's mentor, a wise old janitor named Elbow.

When Mark goes to visit his cousin Toni in Austria for the summer, he develops a serious crush on Toni's pretty stepsister Clair and at the same time tries to fend off Toni's efforts to get him set up with prostitutes. As much as he likes Clair, Mark cannot bring himself to start a sexual relationship with her and ultimately goes to Clair's mother Katherine to vent his feelings. It is that meeting that ultimately sends Mark home more experienced than when he arrived.