The New Guy
2284155
226033377
2008-07-16T15:07:15Z
GVnayR
651076
/* Leaving the Past Behind */ paragraphed sub-section for easier reading
{{Infobox_Film |
name= The New Guy|
image = NewGuyPoster.jpg|
director= [[Ed Decter]]|
producer= [[Greg Silverman]] <br /> [[John J. Strauss]]|
writer= [[David Kendall]] |
starring= [[DJ Qualls]] <br /> [[Eliza Dushku]] <br /> [[Zooey Deschanel]] <br /> [[Eddie Griffin]]|
music=|8
cinematography=[[Michael D. O'Shea]]|
editing=[[David Rennie (editor)|David Rennie]]|
distributor=[[Columbia Pictures]] |
released= {{start date|2002|05|10}} ([[USA]]) |
runtime= 89 min. |
language=[[English language|English]] |
budget= |
music = |
awards = |
mpaa_rating=[[PG-13]] for sexual content, language, crude humor and mild drug references|
imdb_id=0241760 |
amg_id=1:256716 |
}}
'''''The New Guy''''' is a [[2002 in film|2002]] [[United States|American]] teen comedy [[film]] directed by [[Ed Decter]]. It tells the story of a [[high school]] [[loser (person)|loser]] that assumes the identity "Gil Harris" in order to infiltrate the cool kids. He temporarily becomes one of them; all because he used the moves he learned in jail to become cool.
== Taglines ==
* ''Popularity isn't a contest...It's a war.''
* ''A zero will rise...''
== Plot ==
The movie stars [[DJ Qualls]] as Dizzy Gillespie Harrison, a 18-year-old [[high school senior]] and [[nerd]] who always gets hassled by the [[jock (subculture)|jocks]]. In his younger days, he used to dance to 1970s [[funk music]] in gold shorts.
=== First Day of School ===
==== The Beginning ====
The film starts with Dizzy and his friends going to Rocky Creek High School (W. Charles Akins High School in real life) in his father's work van. After arriving at school and hearing a few [[EverQuest]] comments from Kirk, Dizzy helps the head cheerleader Tina Osgoode (Rachael E. Stevens) in stopping her [[car alarm]] that she accidentally started. Dizzy asks her to go out with him even though she is a [[cheerleader]] and he is a nerd but is rejected. Dizzy asks Tina out a second time once inside the high school and was promptly refused again. Even though Tina rejected Dizzy, the head cheerleader starts to hold on to Dizzy's hand just to see his [[penis]] become [[erection|erect]]. Barclay (Ameer Baraka) and his friend point out the obvious; Dizzy then tries to explain to Barclay that he had an "innocent conversation."
However, the erect penis proved otherwise according to Barclay and his friend. Suspecting that Dizzy was [[arousal|sexually aroused]] by Tina's body, Dizzy's erect penis is first witnessed by a disgusted Dizzy. After that, it is revealed to a disturbed Tina by Barclay himself. Tina finds the erect penis to be disgusting so Barclay moves Dizzy away from Tina. Barclay offers to "cover it up" but he actually actually rips Dizzy's [[briefs|underwear]] from underneath his pants before Dizzy had a chance to respond. The remnants were placed on top of his head to make sure that everyone else in school saw Dizzy's erection except Dizzy himself. Without Dizzy knowing it, they were video-taping him so that he could be humiliated at at later date. Mrs. Whitman (Justine Johnston), the old librarian pops into the hall after hearing all the commotion in the hallway.
==== Broke-dick ====
Out of [[Dementia|senility]], she believes his penis to be a loaded weapon and plans to "confiscate" it to Principal Zaylor (Geoffrey Lewis). Dizzy tries to remove her hand from his penis by turning his body so that he can "keep" his penis. The old librarian [[Penile fracture|breaks]] Dizzy's penis; she grabbed on the penis too hard and Dizzy tried to turn her off too quickly. Dizzy Harrison and [[Dizzy Gillespie]] have more in common than most people think. Dizzy Harrison had his penis bent with an "accident" with the 80-year-old librarian while Dizzy Gillepsie had his [[trumpet]] broken during a work accident in 1953. Gillespie might have liked the effect his bent instrument had but Harrison never had sex in the movie because of his "broken instrument."
Dizzy ends up at Kiki Pierce's office (which is lined with [[boy band]] posters, romantic hearts, and butterflies). Once there, he explains to his father and Kiki that he can "piss around the corner" (the French language dub states that he can piss at a 90 degree angle). Thinking that Dizzy was swearing instead of describing his fractured penis, Kiki diagnoses Dizzy with [[Tourette syndrome|Tourette's Syndrome]] and is given medication. Technically, only doctors can diagnose and prescribe medications for Tourette's Syndrome - making her prescription illegal in real life. He takes an [[Drug overdose|overdose]] of his medication. It is unclear whether Dizzy has a family doctor or whether Miss Pierce assumes that responsibility after diagnosing him with Tourette's syndrome (for using the word [[piss]]).
After seeing a [[preacher]] and choir in the mall, he jumps on the stage and begins preaching about his experiences. Dizzy is arrested while unconscious, wakes up to be forced into having his [[mug shot]] and put in jail. Jail is where he meets [[drag queen]]s and witnesses failed prison escapes.
=== Transition from Dizzy Harrison to Gil Harris ===
==== Getting Expelled ====
While in [[prison]] an inmate, Luther ([[Eddie Griffin]]) begins teaching him how to be cool. Luther had similar experiences in a previous penitentiary except that his penis was never broken. The first step in turning Dizzy from a nerd into a "big man on campus" is for Dizzy to get expelled from his high school. While trying to become as tough as Luther, he cheats on a test, [[bribery|bribes]] Mr. Luberoff (the history/geography teacher), and used the school's security camera to catch the constipated principal trying to clear his bowels. He thinks that nothing will work because all he got was extra medication from Miss Pierce and more therapy time. Dizzy was even told that "he had to stick around for another year." Dizzy finally gets expelled when he breaks a [[mop]] in an attempt to use to hit his principal's buttocks.
After returning to prison as a visitor rather than an arrested criminal, Dizzy gets a makeover from Luther and his boys before being released into the real world. This includes a new look (which is supposed to be [[Brad Pitt]] with a hint of [[Anne Heche]]), new moves, and a new persona. He registers himself into a new school under the alias Gil Harris. Pretty soon, people started to forget about Dizzy and talk about Gil instead. As Gil, Dizzy starts to gain respect from the jocks and geeks alike. In order to become even more cool and popular, Dizzy (a.k.a Gil Harris) has to beat up the biggest and baddest person in the school. Gil gets beaten at first, but when everyone leaves he comes back and beats up Conner Maguire. Conner is dragged into the hall by Dizzy/Gil so everyone can see his humiliation. After several failed attempts, he manages to pull it off.
==== Starting a New Life ====
Dizzy then is noticed by the head [[cheerleader]], Danielle ([[Eliza Dushku]]) and she ends her relationship with Conner to start a new one with Gil/Dizzy. Courtney invites Gil to a party that would feature Tony Hawk doing skateboard moves. While partying with the cool kids, Dizzy refused to have sex with Courtney (he makes up a fake girlfriend named Josefina to make the other guys at the party jealous). Dizzy eventually becomes the most popular kid in the school. When Dizzy returns home from Courtney's part, Kiki holds an [[intervention]] that involves Bear. During the intervention, she urges Bear to question his son's new appearance and personality. Kiki also tells Bear to sell his house, quit his job, and supervise Dizzy at all times. Bear goes along with Miss Pierce's plan and they live in a trailer outside of town near the end of the movie eating nothing but [[marshmallow]]s.
In a scene referencing ''[[Patton (film)|Patton]]'' where a football player confuses [[Pearl Harbor]] being bombed with the [[Pearl Harbor (film)|movie of the same name]] "bombing at the box office," Dizzy helps the school [[American football|football]] team gain self-respect to win games. The cheer which Eliza Dushku leads before the football game is the same cheer which [[Kristy Swanson]] led in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. The [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)|TV show]] which was based on this movie had Eliza Dushku in a recurring role.
=== The Good Life as Gil Harris ===
[[Image:Dushku 4.jpg|thumb|left|245px|[[Eliza Dushku]] trying on new clothes in ''The New Guy''.]]
==== Leaving the Past Behind ====
While at the mall with Danielle, Gil runs into Nora (Deschanel), Kirk (Mixon), and Glen (Shen), his old group of friends. He is afraid that Danielle will think he is a loser so instead of talking to his friends, Gil pretends he doesn't know them and walks past them. This upsets his friends and they question what makes him any different from the popular kids that tormented him earlier. Following this scene is a montage of high school football players. Near the end of the montage, Dizzy teams up with his friends again by setting Kirk up with Courtney. Near the end Kirk even gets to have [[fornication|sex]] with her for reasons not related to the story line. This leads to him finally understanding a funk song that he couldn't understand in his childhood. Gil learns that his current school's football team is playing his old school in the championship game.
He is reluctant to go at first. However, Gil puts it behind him and leads his team to victory. The first thing that Dizzy does as Gil while re-entering his old school is to deliver a ''[[Braveheart]]''-like charge into the stadium. Dizzy has not seen his old high school ever since the principal expelled him and the kids there might know as Dizzy (rather than Gil).
==== Getting Revenge ====
The team wins the game when Dizzy distract Barclay and made him fail a critical play that would have made Rocky Creek the state champions. As the new state champions are celebrating their victory against Rocky Creek, Barclay begins to recognize Gil as his old victim Dizzy. Dizzy wants to fight him but his new high school buddies swarm on him, yank his underwear from under his pants, and place the tattered underwear on top of his head. Conner, Danielle's disgruntled ex-boyfriend, immediately picks up Barclay and founds a new friendship with him. With Barclay's humiliation over with, they begin investigating into Gil Harris' past to uncover any dirt on him, with the help of Barclay (the guy that tormented Dizzy near the beginning of the film). In the end, Conner projects the tape of Dizzy for everyone to watch while Dizzy is performing in his funk band at a large school dance.
The cover story was that ''[[Creed (band)|Creed]]'' was to perform after Dizzy's ''Suburban Funk'' band; half of Rocky Creek High School bought the story even though it was printed on the back of old cafeteria menus. He attempts to explain his actions by admitting that he cared more about what other people thought of him than himself. However, the crowd never gives him a chance and the crowd starts to get ugly. Luther along with the rest of the Black Spiders from the prison enter the school dance to save the day and give Dizzy the opportunity to explain himself. He is given catcalls and is intimidated off the stage to a chant of "Broke Dick" and is hit in the face by Conner. His friends pull him backstage behind the curtain. Once behind the curtain, Nora reveals her newfound courage was due to Dizzy and confesses her feelings for Glen.
Dizzy is eventually confronted by Danielle. Danielle tells him that she was once unpopular before she grew out of her braces and started developing her breasts. In the next scene, they kiss and the curtain is opened. The curtain would reveal to the audience a scene of Conner and his co-conspirator (Barclay) end up tied to chairs with rubber breasts in the same manner as Dizzy was in the beginning of the film. At the end of the film, David Hasslehoff was revealed to be the visitor Luther was talking to in the beginning.
==Cast==
===Protagonists===
====Male====
*[[DJ Qualls]] - Dizzy Harrison (a.k.a. Gil Harris)
*[[Matthew Lee Pelosi]] - Dizzy Harrison (at a younger age)
*[[Eddie Griffin]] - Luther, Dizzy's mentor during his time in jail; most notable for his "crazy eye"- which is an odd glare with a fierce taste enough to intimidate anyone until they cringe upon hearing the odd bull-whip like sound effect associated with the glare
*[[Lyle Lovett]] - Bear Harrison, Dizzy's divorced father who has sole custody over him
*[[Jerod Mixon]] - Kirk, Dizzy's friend who likes to play EverQuest on his personal computer
*[[Parry Shen]] - Glen, one of Dizzy's friends who wears black glasses
*[[Matt Gogin]] - Ed Ligget, diminutive tuba player who gets picked on by everyone except Gil
*[[Charles Hutchinson]] - Lonnie, one of Dizzy/Gil's Highland High School friends who stands up for Gil when Barclay shows up to ruin his newly-found reputation
*[[Avery Waddell]] - Pete's, one of Dizzy's/Gil's new friends that stands up for Gil when Barclay tries to expose him
*[[Mike Erwin]] - Travis, the black kid who always gets disrepected by Conner and tells Barclay not to call people names or use bad language
====Female====
*[[Eliza Dushku]] - Danielle, the head cheerleader at Dizzy/Gil's new high school
*[[Zooey Deschanel]] - Nora, the token female in Dizzy's funk band who gains courage near the end of the movie
*[[Laura Clifton]] - Emily, Danielle's old friend who becomes friends with her again near the end of the film
===Antagonists===
====Male====
*[[Ameer Baraka]] - Barclay, one of the jocks who put rubber breasts and makeup on Dizzy
*[[Ross Patterson]] - Conner Maguire, Danielle's disgruntled ex-boyfriend
*[[Geoffrey Lewis (actor)|Geoffrey Lewis]] - Principal Zaylor, the principal who expelled Dizzy for breaking a mop handle
* [[Gene Simmons]] - the minister at the shopping mall; he preaches about abstinence to taunt Dizzy into replying that his penis is in the "right angle" and upstages him
* [[Kyle Gass]] - Mr. Luberoff, the history/geography teacher who sees through Dizzy's attempts to become tough and sends him to Kiki Pierce's office to be scolded by his father
====Female====
*[[Sunny Mabrey]] - Courtney, the sex-crazed cheerleader that Gil snubs for Danielle
*[[Rachael E. Stevens]] - Tina Osgoode, the head cheerleader of Rocky Creek High School who refused Dizzy and ends up becoming Barclay's girlfriend
*[[Illeana Douglas]] - Miss Kiki Pierce, the school's guidance counselor; she does everything in her power to prevent Dizzy from getting expelled so he can't start over in a new high school
*[[Justine Johnston (film/television actress)|Justine Johnston]] - Mrs. Whitman, the 80-year-old librarian who broke Dizzy's penis in the film
===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 :
#"The New Guy" by [[Mystikal]]
#"[[I'm Just a Kid]]" by [[Simple Plan]]
#"[[You Really Got Me]]" by [[Eve 6]]
#"Keep the Party Goin'" by [[Juvenile (rapper)|Juvenile]]
#"[[So Fresh, So Clean]]" by [[OutKast]]
#"Outsider" by [[Green Day]]
#"[[Uh Huh]]" by [[B2K]]
#"So Dizzy" by [[Rehab (band)|Rehab]]
#"Breakout" by [[OPM (band)|OPM]]
#"Dark Side" by [[Wheatus]]
#"I Love You" by [[Nine Days]]
#"Heart in Hand" by [[Vertical Horizon]]
#"Hi-Lo" by [[J.T. Money]]
#"[[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
==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0241760|title=The New Guy}}
*{{rotten-tomatoes|id=1112617-new_guy|title=The New Guy}}
*{{mojo title|id=newguy|title=The New Guy}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Guy, The}}
[[Category:2002 films]]
[[Category:Prison films]]
[[Category:2000s romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:Teen comedy films]]
[[ar:الرجل الجديد (فيلم)]]
[[it:Un ragazzo tutto nuovo]]
[[nl:The New Guy]]
[[pl:Nowy]]
[[pt:The New Guy]]