The New Guy

The New Guy
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ed Decter
Produced by	Greg Silverman John J. Strauss
Written by	David Kendall
Starring	DJ Qualls Eliza Dushku Eddie Griffin Zooey Deschanel
Music by	Ralph Sall
Cinematography	Michael D. O'Shea
Editing by	David Rennie
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures (Sony Pictures Entertainment)
Release date(s)	May 10, 2002 (2002-05-10) (USA)
Running time	89 min. (original) 93 min. (director's edition)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$13,000,000 ($15,871,195.25)
Box office	$31,167,388 ($38,051,053.87)

The New Guy is a 2002 American teen comedy directed by Ed Decter. The film tells the story of high school loser Dizzy Gillespie Harrison.^[1] Dizzy is an unpopular, high school band 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 how to be cool from a prison inmate, and enrolls at a new high school under the alias Gil Harris. He is quick to make new friends and soon gains respect from jocks and geeks alike, uniting a once divided school and greatly improving its football team. Eventually, Gil has to face his demons from his old school when they face each other in a football game.

Plot

The movie begins with a prison inmate, Luther (Eddie Griffin), speaking directly to the camera to an unseen individual, telling the story of Dizzy Gillespie Harrison (DJ Qualls), an 18-year-old high school senior and nerd. Dizzy is friends with Nora (Zooey Deschanel), Kirk (Jerod Mixon) and Glen (Parry Shen),^[2], who together started a funk rock band and are addicted to video games. They attend Rocky Creek High School, where Dizzy is picked on by basically everyone, but especially star football player Barclay. This occurs before and after Tina Osgood, the school's sex symbol, causes him to have an erection,^[2] which the school librarian (played by Justine Johnston) accidentally "breaks".^[1] What the librarian did not realize is that Dizzy's white briefs were yanked from underneath his pants and placed around his head^[2] - revealing the erect penis in plain sight instead of "covering it." Dizzy is misdiagnosed with Tourette syndrome; he is then placed on medication by the school counselor who advises his father (Lyle Lovett) to spend every moment possible with him. While at the mall's food court, the heavily medicated Dizzy makes a fool of himself at a church revival and gets arrested.^[1]

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.^[2] 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 and guards.^[1] Changing his name to 'Gil Harris', he enrolls at East Highland High and makes an impression by being dropped off in a prison van in restraints and beating up the school bully, Connor.^[1]

The action has an intended effect, and head cheerleader, Danielle (Eliza Dushku), welcomes the newcomer to school.^[2] Her friend Courtney (Sunny Mabrey) invites Dizzy to a party and through a mishap, Dizzy gives Courtney the impression that he has rejected her. Using a photo given to him by the prison inmates and help from his old friends, Dizzy manages to escape the party with his reputation intact. Upon returning home, however, he finds his father has agreed to sell his house and quit work to supervise him, which results in the pair living in a trailer.

At the football game, Dizzy, referencing General Patton in the film, Patton, gives an impassioned speech to the team, who proceed to win their first game. He is soon enlisted by the coach and principal to plan the school's homecoming dance, and becomes imbued with school spirit, shedding his bad boy image.

However, Dizzy and Gil are fast becoming too big for one body. When Nora berates Dizzy for becoming the same person he once hated, he uses his newfound popularity to confront Connor. Dizzy and Danielle spur the students to reunite, and the lines dividing the different cliques are broken. With a new philosophy, the school football team begins to win games and bullying becomes a thing of the past.^[1] Reaching the state championship, where they play Rocky Creek, Dizzy's antics on the sideline cost Rocky Creek the game, although Barclay recognizes his old punching bag. At school the next day, he attempts to beat up Dizzy, and is in turn attacked by the entire student body. After the attack, Connor helps up Barclay from the ground, telling him he wants to know what he knows (about Dizzy).

The homecoming dance, which Dizzy's funk band is supposed to play, is crashed by the students of Rocky Creek. Barclay and Connor, who have joined forces to set a trap for Dizzy, play an embarrassing video of the librarian incident. However, Luther and the other inmates arrive to save Dizzy and tie up the two bullies. Nora admits longstanding feelings for Glen, and Dizzy and Danielle reconcile.

Luther ends the film, and the man he is talking to is revealed to be David Hasselhoff.

Cast

• DJ Qualls as Dizzy Harrison/Gil Harris
• Eddie Griffin as Luther
• Eliza Dushku as Danielle
• Zooey Deschanel as Nora
• Lyle Lovett as Bear Harrison
• Jerod Mixon as Kirk
• Parry Shen as Glen
• Ameera Baraka as Barclay
• Kina Cosper as Estelle
• Ross Patterson as Conner Maguire
• Geoffrey Lewis as Principal Zaylor
• Kurt Fuller as Mr. Undine
• Sunny Mabrey as Courtney
• Illeana Douglas as Miss Kiki Pierce

Cameo appearances

• Jerry O'Connell
• Charlie O'Connell
• Vanilla Ice
• Tony Hawk
• David Hasselhoff
• Tommy Lee
• Kool Moe Dee
• Horatio Sanz
• Henry Rollins
• Josh Todd
• Jai Rodriguez
• Jermaine Dupri
• M.C. Gainey
• Kyle Gass
• Gene Simmons
• James Brown

Soundtrack

Songs that are featured on the soundtrack :

1. "The New Guy" by Mystikal
2. "I'm Just a Kid" by Simple Plan
3. "You Really Got Me" by Eve 6
4. "Keep the Party Goin'" by Juvenile
5. "So Fresh, So Clean" by OutKast
6. "Outsider" by Green Day
7. "Uh Huh" by B2K
8. "So Dizzy" by Rehab
9. "Breakout" by OPM
10. "Dark Side" by Wheatus
11. "I Love You" by Nine Days
12. "Heart in Hand" by Vertical Horizon
13. "Hi-Lo" by JT Money
14. "Let It Whip" by SR-71

Songs that were featured in the movie but do not appear on the soundtrack include:

• "Call Me Super Bad" by James Brown
• "Action Figure Party" by Action Figure Party
• "(Rock) Superstar" by Cypress Hill
• "Click Click Boom" by Saliva
• "Boléro" by Hungarian State Orchestra
• "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" by Ennio Morricone
• "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins
• "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Interstellar Force
• "Dammit, I Changed Again" by The Offspring
• "Bounce" by Glo & Eklips
• "She's a Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked)" by Carl Carlton
• "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" by St. John's Cathedral Choirs and Festival Orchestra
• "Lookin' For Love" by Johnny Lee
• "Girl All the Bad Guys Want" by Bowling for Soup
• "New Religion Every Day" by American Steel
• "Soar" by All Too Much
• "The New You" by Laptop
• "The Anthem" by Good Charlotte

Reference

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Basic summary". Reeling Reviews. http://www.reelingreviews.com/thenewguy.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-21. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Advanced summary". Screen It!. http://www.screenit.com/movies/2002/the_new_guy.html. Retrieved 2009-07-22. 

External links

• The New Guy at the Internet Movie Database
• The New Guy at AllRovi
• The New Guy at Rotten Tomatoes
• The New Guy at Box Office Mojo
• The New Guy at Metacritic