The New Guy

As with all teen-based movies, it is wrong to go in with the expectation of a deeply profound and provocative movie. This movie is supposed to be far-fetched and whacky and succeeds perfectly.

The characters are cliched in order to highlight the flaws of the jock, the cheerleader, the geek etc. It is not a byproduct of poorly thought out characters or lack of depth. Rather, the film concentrates on exploiting these cliches for all the humour that they're worth.

If you have the breadth of scope to appreciate the far-out and the obscene, then this is a great movie. If not, lighten up!

Some Spoilers DJ Quails stars as a kid who purposely gets expelled from one school to go in to another school, where he can start with a new reputation. The story then shows him attaining all of what he wants, but he has to disconnect himself from his past. Then he is reconnected with the past he is running from. There are a couple laughs and a feel good or almost fairy tale ending, as all works out in the ends and he gets the girl and keeps his new reputation.

Eliza Dushku also stars in this one and she is the girl he gets. She again in an edgy cheerleader and a side character, like "Bring It On". I always watch Eliza hoping for a little more drama from her. She can be a very powerful dramatic actress. However, in this one, she hardly raises her voice.

The story may seem pretty unrealistic, but it has a good theme, I believe in. The main character's major change starts as an act, but he gradually gains confidence in himself. When his confidence changes, he is no longer concerned so much with himself, but with others. At that point he becomes likable and one can understand why the new school likes him.

A lot of people will say the plot of this movie was lame, predictable and dumb and yeah, they're right. But this kind of movie isn't about a brilliant plot. It's about interesting characters and silly gags and parodying those more serious types of movies. There are some funny lines, sight gags and slapstick, some cute girls, the bad guys get what's coming to them and the good guys win. Throw in some surprising celebrity cameos (some of which you might not catch until the credits roll) and a great soundtrack that mixes old and new songs and that's what I call entertainment.

The cast is noteworthy too. DJ Qualls, of course, Zooey Deschanel (the chick from Elf), Eddie Griffin, Lyle Lovett, Jerod Mixon, Parry Shen, Matt Gogin etc. did a fine job. If you can watch a movie without being hypercritical about how "bad" it is, then get this, sit back a have some laughs

So back when I was in high school The New Guy was released and my best friend and I saw it together, all I could say was that I wanted to pull a Dizzy, re-vamp my whole act for the school, we can all dream, right? But anyways onto the movie, The New Guy is actually a really funny high school comedy that is sure to deliver a few good laughs. I think the reason why is because of the cast, it looked like they just had a blast making this movie and made it completely entertaining. While it's definitely not the best acted or stands out against all other high school comedies, this formula worked and DJ Qualls truly made the movie into something special. He and Eddie Griffin were great for The New Guy, a new twist on the typical high school tale of freaks, geeks and beautiful people.

Prison inmate, Luther tells us the story of Dizzy Gillespie Harrison, a 18-year-old high school senior and nerd. Dizzy is friends with Nora, Kirk and Glen, and attends Rocky Creek High School, where he is picked on by star football player Barclay. This occurs before and after Tina Osgood causes him to have an erection, which the school librarian accidentally breaks. Dizzy is misdiagnosed with Tourette syndrome; he is then illegally placed on medication by the school counselor. While at the mall's food court, Dizzy makes a fool of himself and gets arrested. In prison, Dizzy meets Luther, who turns out to be a sympathetic ex-victim who makes it his goal to teach him how to be cool. In an attempt to wipe the slate clean, Dizzy gets himself expelled from his old high school, then undergoes a makeover with the help of the prison inmates. Changing his name to 'Gil Harris', he enrolls at East Highland High and makes an impression by being dropped off in a prison van and beating up the school bully, Connor. The action has an intended effect, and head cheerleader, Danielle, welcomes the newcomer to school. Everything goes to plan, he's cool, popular, and everyone looks up to him… little does the school know what Diz actually was at one point.

I really did enjoy The New Guy, I still love watching it today. There are a lot of great bits, but I think what my friend and I always have a great time watching is when the prisoners are teaching Dizzy how to be tough, especially when Luther teaches Diz "the crazy eyes". This movie has a lot of memorable moments in it, I don't know if it's enough though for The New Guy to stand out as a classic high school comedy. But I do recommend it if you get the chance, it has a great soundtrack, a cool story and fun characters. Diz definitely made Madonna run for her money with his new re-invention of himself.

7/10

The film itself was a little lame, but had its moments. DJ Qualls did a good job as did Eddie Griffin, but what made this movie worth seeing is the many celebrity cameos such as: Vanilla Ice, Kool Mo Dee, Henry Rollins, Gene Simmons, Horatio Sanz, Tony Hawk, Lyle Lovett, Jerry & Charlie O'Connell, and Tommy Lee. It was great to see these guys in the movie and it made the film all the more enjoyable to watch.