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New Guy, The
Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment

New Guy, The reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 24 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
6.3 out of 10
based on 23 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 36 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for sexual content, language, crude humor and mild drug references

Starring DJ Qualls, Lyle Lovett, Eddie Griffin, Eliza Dushku, Zooey Deschanel, Parry Shen, Laura Clifton, and Kurt Fuller

A hilarious story about wiping the slate clean and reinventing yourself. (Sony)


GENRE(S): Comedy  
WRITTEN BY: David Kendall  
DIRECTED BY: Ed Decter  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: August 13, 2002 
Video: August 13, 2002 
Theatrical: May 10, 2002 
RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
If physical appearance creates its own class system (in high school and beyond), then Qualls is perfect for this proselytizing role. He has that rarest of movie-star faces -- one that over comes the tyranny of beauty.
Read Full Review
63
Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
The New Guy doesn't have a new idea in its head, but it trods over the old ground with such wit and heart that its lack of originality can be overlooked, if not entirely forgiven.
58
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
A Jekyll-and-Hyde teen comedy that sounds like a Pauly Shore reject, but Qualls moves his marionette body around with a true clown's effervescence, and he does rubber-faced parodies of youth cool that are just what youth cool deserves.
Read Full Review
50
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
It makes little sense, fails as often as it succeeds, and yet is not hateful and is sometimes quite cheerfully original.
Read Full Review
50
New York Post Jonathan Foreman
Uneven but occasionally hilarious teen comedy.
Read Full Review
40
The New York Times A.O. Scott
A bad-taste comedy with a heart.
Read Full Review
40
The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
A comedy just funny enough to make viewers wish it were far funnier.
Read Full Review
40
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
It isn't very good, but it doesn’t seem to care, which turns out to be rather refreshing.
Read Full Review
38
New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Tries everything possible to win you over -- satire, gross-out comedy, even earnest romance. But as any high-schooler can tell you, the harder you try, the bigger you fall.
25
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
The slapdash comic flailing of screenwriter and TV scribe-turned-director Ed Decter is only compounded by a script so disconnected you have to wonder if pages were lost on the way to the set.
Read Full Review
25
Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
You have to have faith that kids will recognize a bad movie when it's foisted on them -- and they don't get much worse than The New Guy.
Read Full Review
25
San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer
Lame, haphazard teen comedy.
Read Full Review
25
Miami Herald Charles Savage
Anyone who wants to enjoy himself at a good movie about a high school geek who undergoes a transformation should go see "'Spider-Man" again instead.
Read Full Review
25
Boston Globe Renee Graham
Probably would have worked better as a slamming soundtrack than as a muddle-headed movie.
Read Full Review
20
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Lame, derivative comedy.
Read Full Review
20
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
In an inspired bit of casting, Lyle Lovett plays the dad of the goofy-looking Diz/Gil. That these two could be related might be the only believable touch in this whole misfired thing.
Read Full Review
20
LA Weekly Mark Olsen
Various actors deserving of better (including Zooey Deschanel, Eddie Griffin and Lyle Lovett) suffer through the undercooked material, while love interest Eliza Dushku gamely gets through both a bikini-modeling montage and a mechanical bull ride, but none of their efforts can save this film.
Read Full Review
12
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Reaches breathtaking lows of incoherence, sexism, racial stereotyping, and -- did I say incoherence?
Read Full Review
10
Los Angeles Times Gene Seymour
An unintentional parody of every teen movie made in the last five years. Which can be the only rational explanation for making such a mess all over the screen.
Read Full Review
10
Variety Robert Koehler
Overall aroma of movie junk food.
Read Full Review
10
Washington Post Desson Thomson
Feckless and crude without any particularly funny redeeming value. If there's anything more to this poor excuse of a movie than immediately meets the eye, I'll get back to you.
Read Full Review
0
New Times (L.A.) Robert Wilonsky
An ugly-duckling tale so hideously and clumsily told it feels accidental. Surely, no one PLANNED something this disastrously unfunny.
Read Full Review
0
Washington Post Ann Hornaday
A particularly loathsome piece of cultural detritus, a trashy, crass piece of work that panders to the anxieties and desires of adolescents without a scintilla of sympathy or coherence.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 6.3 (out of 10) based on 36 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Felix Q. gave it a7:
Once more, a teen-comedy (starring those who have passed the teen mark a few years ago) with a concept we've seen, uh a few times before. I think what makes this one better than others on one level is the approach- I don't think we've gone this *specific* route before. DJ Qualls keeps this one from falling throught the floor completely- he deserves a lot more kudos in Hollywood. Unfortunately, for all the promise this could have had, it seems kind of hollow, and not fully developed. The jokes get slightly cheap at times, and other times seem to hit a much smarter note- if this film had just made up it's mind and decided to go all out dick-and-fart funny, or witty-ironic-satire, then it could have been great. One thing that's certain- let's see more of DJ Qualls!

Josh gave it a0:
Why do some people find this movie funny? I did not laugh once throughout this piece of crap excuse for a comedy.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
Movie critics don't know anything anyway. They're hired to complain.

Martin L gave it a7:
Good movie! hilarious too!

Chris S gave it a 10:
These idiots who think that a movie has to make complete sense to be funny are moron's. This movie was one of the funniest I have seen. All I have to say is, "Get over youselves, just sit back and enjoy!" Don't over think a movie like this........and don't be stupid.

Abby H. gave it an 8:
This movie was funny and interesting, but there were some parts that just didn't fit at ALL. Me and my best friend Amy watched it once at her house and we both found it hilarious. But the second was as funny.

Matt L. gave it a 9:
One of my favorite comedies ever. The kind of movie you'll never forget, even if it's not that original. DJ Qualls is great, as well as the rest of the crew, and Eliza Dushku's "swimsuits scene" is.... :)) If you like the 'Dude where's my car' stuff, you should love this one.

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