The New Guy

Starring: DJ Qualls, Eliza Dushku, Zooey Deschanel
Director: Ed Decter

Rating: PG-13

Review Posted: 8.22.02

By John Teves

Terminally nerdy Dizzy Harrison (Quall) is routinely laughed at, ridiculed and picked on. His senior year is nothing but an exercise in pain and torture. So Dizzy decides to change his luck. After purposely getting expelled from school, he enrolls in a rival high school with a new look, a new story and a completely new attitude. Now, the former dud becomes a major stud and finds himself the big man on campus - complete with girls, popularity and more girls! But when his past resurfaces and threatens to expose the real Dizzy, he must rise to the occasion to show the world exactly what he's all about!

The New Guy is a movie that just works. This film is truly funny. The film resembles a Farrelly Brothers style movie. Some of the bits fall flat at times but I thought the film remained entertaining despite the unfavorable theatrical reviews it received. The gags fluctuate between the excessively obvious and the disgustingly lewd. I thought DJ Qualls did an excellent job of creating the lovable geek. Qualls is a charismatic, unconventional performer who always manages to be likable.

THE NEW GUY appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this single-sided, double-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. The film looked clean and presented no signs of speckles, grain, or scratches. Sharpness looked crisp and detailed for the most part but some scenes appeared partially soft and mushy. Jagged edges presented no problems. Colors came across nicely rich and vivid. Black levels were deep and dark, and shadow detailed seemed appropriately heavy but not excessively dense. As a whole, THE NEW GUY looked very good and it provided a generally positive viewing experience.

THE NEW GUY is presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. All in all the sound seemed generally positive. The soundfield stayed mainly in the front channels. Effects spread evenly across the forward speakers. Audio quality appeared definite. Dialogue appeared infrequently edgy at times but generally was crisp and distinct. Effects were clean and genuine and came across accurately without any distortion. The music sounded lucid and charismatic and often displayed excellent bass.

Extras:

• Music Video
• Theatrical Trailers

THE NEW GUY isn’t the worst movie made, despite what you may have heard, the film manages a few laughs and earns some points due to a good performance from Qualls. Fans of Qualls and pointless teen humor should like this DVD, but others probably will want to skip the repetitious comedy.

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