The New Guy
An expelled high school outsider borrows a prison inmate’s lessons in cool to reinvent himself as a charismatic new student, only to risk losing everything when his fake past is investigated.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Mild
- Complexity
- Simple
- Violence
- Mild
- irreverent
- witty
- breezy
- lazy sunday
- teen movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film incoherent, silly, and unoriginal, relying on familiar teen gross-out comedy clichés.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Dizzy becomes Gil Harris after learning how to appear tough and popular, making identity performance the story's central mechanism.
The plot moves through rival relationships among geeks, jocks, bullies, cheerleaders, and football players.
The film frames Dizzy's humiliating senior year, prison lessons, bullying, and social transformation through overtly broad teen humor.
Dizzy abandons his unpopular identity and constructs a new one to find acceptance at another high school.
Films like The New Guy, and why
Can't Hardly Wait
teen comedy centered on social reinvention, bullying, popularity, and school hierarchies
She's All That
high school outsider comedy combining identity performance, romance, and broad adolescent humor
Not Another Teen Movie
gross-out teen comedy built around an unpopular student seeking social status and acceptance
Never Been Kissed
fish-out-of-water school comedy featuring outsider transformation, romance, and exaggerated teen stereotypes
Movie Details
- Director
- Ed Decter
- Release Date
- 2002-05-10
- Runtime
- 88 min
- Rating
- 6.0 / 10 (683)
Cast
- DJ Qualls
- Eliza Dushku
- Zooey Deschanel
- Lyle Lovett
- Jerod Mixon
- Illeana Douglas
- Parry Shen
- Kurt Fuller
- Julius Carry
- M.C. Gainey
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The New Guy about?
- An expelled high school outsider borrows a prison inmate’s lessons in cool to reinvent himself as a charismatic new student, only to risk losing everything when his fake past is investigated.
- What is The New Guy like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The New Guy as brisk, its intensity as mild and its storytelling as simple.
- Is The New Guy violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The New Guy as mild.
- What did critics think of The New Guy?
- Critics broadly found the film incoherent, silly, and unoriginal, relying on familiar teen gross-out comedy clichés.
- Which films are like The New Guy?
- Films with a similar feel include Can't Hardly Wait, She's All That, Not Another Teen Movie, and Never Been Kissed.
- How long is The New Guy?
- The New Guy runs 88 minutes.
- Where can I watch The New Guy?
- In United States, The New Guy is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
