I constantly talk about how you have to rate a movie against it's own genre, etc.
Well, that being said, The New Guy is a "teen comedy"…but no matter what genre you wanna call it…
it's pretty bad.
Almost painfully so…
DJ Qualls stars as a loser who is so tormented by bullies, and just about every one else, at one high school, that he totally reinvents himself as some one else, moves to a new school, and becomes very popular. Qualls was very funny in Road Trip, and he may be able to carry a comedy on his own, but only if it's very well written. This movie isn't, and it makes Qualls look bad because of it. It's also just kinda hard to buy the "new, cool" version anyway…it just isn't him.
Eliza Dushku, a very hot actress, here distances herself from her role as a hot cheerleader in Bring It On by playing, well, a hot cheerleader. Her role is kinda cookie cutter "hot chick with a heart of gold" stuff, but her bikini try on scene alone is worth the price of admission. Wowza.
Zooey Deschanel is completely wasted here. What was she thinking?
After appearing in the wonderful ALMOST FAMOUS, as well as Big Trouble and others, she shows up in this movie. Well, a paycheck's a paycheck, I guess.
Eddie Griffin is OK here, but, I guess, in reality…he too is wasted. But he is kinda funny, and I can't wait to see Undercover Brother!
Somehow, this movie managed to score some pretty cool cameos. I won't name names, even though even the smallest blurbs I've read on this film have indeed spoiled the surprises. Dumb fucks.
So I'm thinking there's something wrong with this movie. I saw posters for this movie a long time ago. I have a feeling that maybe what was finally released this week was actually a severely cut up PG-13 version of an R Rated movie. It almost seemed as if this movie wanted to be so much more than it was, and the ingredients were there. If that's the case, I'll check out the DVD and hope for the best, because hopefully the best isn't what was served up on screen…