The New Guy (2002)

A high school senior branded uncool in the ninth grade gets himself expelled so he changes his image to cool kid at the town's other high school.

Director:

Ed Decter

Writer:

David Kendall

Stars:

DJ Qualls, Lyle Lovett, Eliza Dushku

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
DJ Qualls	...	Dizzy
Eliza Dushku	...	Danielle
Zooey Deschanel	...	Nora
Jerod Mixon	...	Kirk
Parry Shen	...	Glen
Lyle Lovett	...	Bear
Eddie Griffin	...	Luther
Sunny Mabrey	...	Courtney
Ross Patterson	...	Conner
Matt Gogin	...	Ed Ligget
Horatio Sanz	...	Dance Instructor
Tony Hawk	...	Himself
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Principal Zaylor
Charlie O'Connell	...	Charlie
Gene Simmons	...	Reverend

Storyline

Dizzy Harrison is an unpopular, high school geek going through a hellish senior year. In an attempt to make a new identity for himself, Dizzy gets himself expelled from his high school, learns the technics of being cool from a prison inmate, and enrolls at a new high school under the alias Gil Harris, to make new friends where he soon gains respect from the jocks and geeks alike. Dizzy then gets noticed by the head cheerleader, Danielle, and helps the school football team gain self-respect to win games. But things unknowingly begin to turn sour when Danielle's disgruntled boyfriend begins investigating into "Gil Harris'" past to uncover any dirt on him.

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Plot Keywords:

mini skirt | teenage boy | teenage girl | attempted escape | high school | 

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Taglines:

A zero will rise

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language, crude humor and mild drug references

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 May 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le nouveau

Filming Locations:

11200 Lakeline Mall Dr, Cedar Park, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,007,833, 12 May 2002, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$28,972,187, 30 June 2002

Company Credits

Production Co:

Revolution Studios, Bedlam Pictures, Frontier Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min 92 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The O'Connell brothers improvised much of their scenes at the party, including the climbing on the swings (which they were not intended to do).

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Goofs

Kirk refers to something being as difficult as "...the fiftieth level of Kunark!". Kunark is a continent in the game EverQuest, to which he's referring. There is no fiftieth level.

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Quotes

Dizzy: [stealing the mic from the Gospel preacher] Ladies and gentleman! Brothers and sisters! I'd like to talk to you all about sex! The devil's middle name, sex! You know what the best form of sexual abstinence is? Being me. Can I get an amen?
Nora: Amen!
Dizzy: You wanna talk about some pain? Lemme hear ya! You wanna talk about pain?
Gospel Singer: That boy's got the spirit.
Reverend: He's an idiot.
Dizzy: If ever a member of the opposite sex ever told you you are not her type...
Crowd: AMEN!
Dizzy: Let me hear you shout amen-ah! If you ever had duct ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

During the credits, there are bloopers. After that, Dizzy and Danielle ride on into the sunset and Danielle falls off the horse.

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Connections

References Make Mine Music (1946)

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Soundtracks

Click Click Boom
Written by Josey Sappington, Chris D'Abaldo, Wayne Swinney, Dave Novotny, Paul Crosby and Bob Marlette
Performed by Saliva
Courtesy of Island Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

A funny enjoyable Teen Comedy

The New guy was a movie that I had mixed feelings about. One part of me thought the movie was going to be just another piece of teen garbage and the other half actually had hope for the film. I am very happy to say that the film was actually very good. This movie is not your average teen movie of coarse it does have a few sexual references but it doesn't go overboard with the sex jokes. The most important element of the film was its meaning which is believe in yourself and don't let the people around you control you. The plot wasn't too original but I enjoyed the film very much.

The film stars DJ Qualls as Dizzy Harrison, and his three friends Nora (Zooey Deschannel), Glen (Parry Shen), and Kirk (Jerod Mixon) who are just entering their senior year of high school. Dizzy and his friends have always been the geeks of the school and been the target of humiliation. So one day Dizzy gathers up enough courage to talk to one of the cheerleaders at the school. He actually succeeds in this goal but the cheerleader caused him to become aroused which in itself isn't too good. The next problem occurs when the cheerleader's boyfriend comes over and asks him what he is doing talking to his girlfriend. Dizzy is then humiliated in front of the entire school by the boyfriend punching him and then a hall monitor grabbing Dizzy's private area and pulling him into the principle's office. He is now so embarrassed and doesn't want to ever go back to school. So Dizzy freaks out in a fit of rage and goes to the mall and takes the microphone from the church quire and starts talking about how bad his life has been.

This then gets him thrown into prison where he meets Luther (Eddie Griffen), who was also the loser kid in high school. Luther then explains to Dizzy how to get expelled from the school so he can go into another High school and start over with a new image. So he gets out of prison and goes back to school and tries to get himself expelled by pulling many wild stunts. He then goes back to prison where he learns the ropes of how to succeed in high school as the `cool guy'. He changes his name to Gil, which is his middle name and starts fresh at the new high school. He embarrasses the most popular guy the first day and everyone falls in love with the New Guy! Gil gains respect from the main cheerleader at this new high school (Eliza Dushku) and starts a relationship with her. Gil feels great at first until he gets so popular and forgets about his 3 buddies who he has known since he was little. Gil finds a way to encourage the new school that his friends are just as cool as him. Gil then helps raise the school spirit by encouraging the football team to win games. Everything is going well for Gil until the football game between his new school and his old school occurs. This then causes a huge problem. The bully from the first school and the bully from the new school get together and find a way to destroy Gil's reputation.

The film gives off a very good soundtrack with a mixture of many different types of music. I especially liked Dizzy's & his three friends' band who sounded awesome in my opinion. I think they should really go out and get a record deal because their music rocked. So as you can tell from the brief description of the movie, it does try to have its sexual jokes but aren't very offensive or sick like other teen movies. But most importantly to me is the end the film, which made a very good point. The movie was a very fun ride for me and I seen it many times already and enjoyed it after ever viewing. My final rating for the New Guy is an 8/10