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The New Guy
The StoryDJ Squalls plays the tall and amazingly skinny Dizzy
Harrison, one of the “blips” (i.e., nerds, nobodies) at Rock Creek High School.
On the first day of his senior year, Dizzy approaches one of the most beautiful
girls in school and gets humiliated in a way so sexually crude I won’t even try
to describe it here. Although, it’s never clear why, Dizzy somehow gets thrown in
prison for a day with a crazy inmate named Luther (Eddie Griffin). Luther also
got picked on in high school, and he inspires Dizzy to get thrown out of his
school and to reinvent himself as the baddest guy at his new school. With help from the prison population, Dizzy becomes Gil and
convinces his new school that he is, indeed, the coolest thing on campus--even
though he’s still secretly a nerdy klutz who plays funk music in a band with
his childhood blip friends. Of course, Dizzy must eventually decide who he’s
going to be and what he’s going to do with his newfound power as a popular kid.
Oh and the head cheerleader (Eliza Dushku) becomes his girlfriend and tries on
bikinis at the mall for him. The VerdictI saw this movie on opening night in a sold-out theater
packed with teenagers. And there just wasn’t that much laughing going on. Some,
but not $7.50 worth. DJ Squalls seems like a funny person, and he’s watchable as
the geeky/cool Dizzy. But the movie itself relies so much on high school
clichés, gross-out humor, and barely dressed cheerleaders that it just never
gets anywhere interesting. The only twists from traditional teen comedies are a couple
of spoofish moments on famous movies (“Patton,” “Braveheart”) and cameos from a
few celebrities (Henry Rollins, Vanilla Ice, Tommy Lee, Gene Simmons, etc.). “The New Guy” never tries to be believable. Instead, it goes
for the silly. But it can’t be silly enough to overcome the writing and tired
story elements. The MessageIn the end, the film tries to make two points about life in
high school. One is good and the other doesn’t make sense even as part of the
movie. First, Dizzy eventually realizes he can use his popularity
for more than just getting girls and humiliating tough guys. He uses his
influence to offer acceptance to the nobodies in the school. You don’t have to
be popular to have influence. Jesus told us to treat others the way we would
want to be treated and to love others as we love ourselves. Especially in high
school, you can make a huge difference in someone’s life just by doing
that--even if you never get invited to a party. But “The New Guy” ends with a message that we should all
just be ourselves. The problem with that in the movie is that Dizzy would never
have made any changes in his life or in his school if he had just kept “being
himself.” The movies real message is clearly that you should change yourself to
gain popularity and acceptance. The Bible has a completely different message: don’t be
yourself; be like Jesus. The more you imitate Him, the more you’ll become the
person you were meant to be all along. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’ll ever
be popular. (They killed Him, you know.) The point is that popularity is an empty goal. Even if you
get there today, it can all go away tomorrow. Worry more about honoring God,
and you’ll end up with a life that matters. The Wrap-UpWhy sit through all the bad language, sexual stuff, and
crude humor for so few laughs? If you see the movie, questions you can discuss with
friends, parents, or just think about yourself: • In your school, who are the most
popular people and what are they like? • What would it be worth to you to
become popular? • Who do you know at your school
that treats people like Jesus would? What do people think of that person? • What are some of your favorite
high school movies? |
Yup, it’s another high school comedy about popularity and
being yourself filled with actors in their mid-20s. It’s been about 10 minutes
since the last one, so we were due. The new film “The New Guy” offers a few
laughs and tons of bad language and crude and sexual humor.
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