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"THE NEW GUY"
(2002) (DJ Qualls, Eliza Dushku) (PG-13)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Mild Mild Heavy None Mild
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Heavy None Minor *Minor Heavy
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Heavy None None Moderate Heavy


QUICK TAKE:
Comedy: With help from an imprisoned convict, a scrawny and picked on high school student tries to reinvent himself as a tough guy at another school.
PLOT:
Dizzy Gillespie Harrison (DJ QUALLS) is a scrawny student at Rocky Creek High school who'd be invisible to the rest of the students if not for unfortunate mishaps and/or being picked on by the jocks. Living with his father, Bear (LYLE LOVETT), Dizzy spends most of his time hanging out with his friends and band mates Nora (ZOOEY DESCHANEL), Kirk (JEROD MIXON) and Glen (PARRY SHEN), none of whom are high on the school's social ladder.

Somehow briefly ending up in prison, Dizzy gets lessons about how to reinvent himself from convict Luther (EDDIE GRIFFIN) and then sets out to do just that. After getting himself expelled, he enrolls as at East Highland High School as Gil Harris, a tough cookie who won't back down from anyone and proves it by beating up school bully Conner (ROSS PATTERSON), who regularly picks on the likes of diminutive tuba player Ed Ligget (MATT GOGIN) and others.

Dizzy's cocky swagger and demeanor impress everyone at the school, including Courtney (SUNNY MABREY) and even Conner's girlfriend, Danielle (ELIZA DUSHKU). As Dizzy becomes the big man at the school and eventually causes most everyone to change the way they view life and treat others, he must put up with Conner trying to undermine him as well as how his newfound life impacts his relationship with his friends back at Rocky Creek.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
Some might be drawn by the high school comedy angle, while anyone who's a fan of someone in the cast may want to see it as well.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13
For sexual content, language, crude humor and mild drug references.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • DJ QUALLS plays a scrawny high school kid who becomes fed up with being socially invisible (other than when being picked on) and so reinvents himself at another school as something of a tough guy social delinquent. He ends up causing changes in perception and behavior at his new school while doing so. He also uses some profanity when not acting in an antisocial manner.
  • ELIZA DUSHKU plays a cheerleader who's intrigued by Dizzy's alter ego despite being Conner's girlfriend and models skimpy bikinis for him.
  • ROSS PATTERSON plays the class bully and Danielle's boyfriend who loses her to Dizzy and his alter ego. Once that happens, he then sets out to ruin Dizzy.
  • ZOOEY DESCHANEL plays one of Dizzy's equally socially invisible friends who gets mad at him for acting like he doesn't know them once he's become popular.
  • JEROD MIXON plays their rotund friend and drummer in their band.
  • PARRY SHEN plays their other friend and band mate who occasionally wonders if the comments he makes sound "gay."
  • LYLE LOVETT plays Dizzy's father who's concerned about his boy's well-being.
  • EDDIE GRIFFIN plays an imprisoned convict who teaches Dizzy how to be a tough guy and social delinquent.
  • SUNNY MABREY plays Danielle's friend who becomes attracted to Dizzy's alter ego.
  • MATT GOGIN plays a diminutive tuba player who's always picked on by bullies until Dizzy comes to his defense.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
    Then read OUR TAKE of this film.


    (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).


    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    The following is a brief summary of the content found in this comedy that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 1 partially muffled "f" word (another is bleeped out), along with various other expletives and colorful phrases. Various instances of sexually related dialogue are present, some sexually related invitations are made, a couple briefly but passionately makes out, and a boy gets an erection (not seen) that an elderly librarian grabs and is pulled around by before breaking the boy's penis.

    Various characters show varying amounts of cleavage throughout the film, one young woman is seen modeling various skimpy bikinis for a young man, and other bits of revealing attire are also on display. Several characters are seen wearing rubber chest plates that have bare female breasts on them (as pranks played on them).

    Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes (including bullies, and a picked on kid who then lies about himself and his past and then acts like a delinquent to get attention). All sorts of other imitative behavior (some of it of the antisocial variety) is present, while some teens are seen drinking what's presumably alcohol at a party and some drug references are made.

    Violence consists of many instances of people hitting or otherwise striking others in various fashions (although most all of that and the rest is presumably played for laughs), some people being partially burned (in different ways) while a prison guard shoots or shoots at an escaping prisoner (we hear the shot, but don't know the outcome of it). Some slapstick style material is also present, as is some brief, scatological material.

    If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.


    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • We see Dizzy somewhat high from prescription pills that a school official has given him and he then downs more of them.
  • Students drink what's presumably liquor of some sort at a large party.
  • A school official and Dizzy's dad think that Dizzy is on drugs. She wonders if it's crystal meth and Bear asks if it's "crank" and whether Dizzy is "riding the white pony." Dizzy tells them he's not on drugs.
  • Danielle comments that all students do is sit in their cars and drink beer (rather than go to the football games).
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • Dizzy takes a video camera and broadcasts live from the men's room where he shows the principal sitting on a toilet (with related diarrhea-like sounds, facial expressions and body movement).
  • Conner has a tiny bit of blood from his nose after Dizzy beats him up.
  • We see a guy's urine stream as he urinates outside a party at night.
  • A jock apologizes to Ed for "pissing" in his tuba, with Ed being surprised that happened and then saying he thought it tasted funny.
  • Dizzy has a tiny bit of blood from his nose after Conner head-butts him.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • Various students, including Conner, have bad attitudes toward Dizzy and other students.
  • Some may take offense at Glen saying (about a girl in their school), "Imagine God having an ass like that," and then wonders aloud if that sounded "gay."
  • Dizzy decides he must get himself expelled from school (so that he can attend a different one and start his reputation anew). Accordingly, he attempts to do so by cheating on his test, bribing a teacher (after pulling off his toupee), taking a video camera into the bathroom to catch the principal sitting on the toilet, and finally breaking a mop handle to use to hit the bent over principal on the butt (he doesn't succeed at that latter bit).
  • A hairdresser in prison is stereotypically gay, another prisoner is the standard drag queen, and various comments are made about other comments sounding gay.
  • Danielle isn't nice to a former childhood friend, while Dizzy briefly adopts the same attitude toward his old friends (in order to look cool for Danielle).
  • Conner tells his male friends that he likes to watch Danielle jump around (in her cheerleading outfit).
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • None.
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • Shotgun: Carried by a prison guard and apparently used to shoot or at least shoot at an escaping prisoner (several times).
  • Starter's pistol: Used during a game.
  • Sword: Carried by Dizzy in a spoof of "Braveheart."
  • Guns: Briefly held by prison guards on some students.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "Are you out of your f*cking mind?" (partially muffled by someone's hand over Dizzy's mouth), "(That's) Bullsh*t," "You're full of sh*t," "Dipsh*t," "Are you sh*tting me?" "Broke d*ck" (repeated many times), "Pissed off," "Freak," "Loser," "I'm an idiot," "From bitch to bull" (what Luther says he's teaching Dizzy of becoming), "Kick his ass," "Whup his ass," "Girly pants," "Who's the bitch now?" "Suck on that," "What the hell /is that/is going on?" "Sorry ass," "Who the hell are you?" "Shut up," "Sluttiest," "Chick(s)" (woman), "Such a slut," "Sucks (to be you)," "Chump change," "Bad ass," "Shake your caboose" (part of the end of a cheerleading cheer), "Pissed," "Balls" (testicles), "Get your punk ass in here," "Punk," "Wussies" and "Fat ass."
  • We see a flashback to Dizzy as a kid, dancing and prancing about in his gold shorts to the sounds of James Brown, wearing a huge fake afro and doing some pelvic thrusting, etc.
  • We see a flashback of Dizzy having been tied to a chair and wearing a rubber chest plate with fake breasts on it (this is seen several times).
  • Other students somehow manage to yank off Dizzy's underwear from under his pants and then put it on his head.
  • Under the influence of some prescription drugs a school official has given him, Dizzy drops some of the pills into an aquarium for the fish.
  • Dizzy decides he must get himself expelled from school (so that he can attend a different one and start his reputation anew). Accordingly, he attempts to do so by cheating on his test, bribing a teacher (after pulling off his toupee), taking a video camera into the bathroom to catch the principal sitting on the toilet, and finally breaking a mop handle to use to hit the bent over principal on the butt (he doesn't succeed at that latter bit).
  • Various characters have varying amounts of tattoos and someone then puts one on Dizzy's hand.
  • To make Dizzy climb up a hanging rope faster, Luther lights the bottom of it on fire. We then see a glimpse of Dizzy falling to the ground, possibly on fire.
  • Inmates teach Dizzy to kick other people in the crotch and then knee them in the face (we see this happen several times).
  • Some female students wear midriff revealing tops.
  • A guy spits at another person.
  • Trying to get everyone's attention so that he can show he can beat up Conner, Dizzy pulls the fire alarm at school.
  • Dizzy plays with an old-fashioned cigarette lighter (repeatedly flicking it open and lighting it) in order to look tough. He also lies about himself and his past in an effort to impress other students.
  • A guy in the stadium gives "the finger" to the cheerleaders.
  • Conner picks up the diminutive Ed Ligget, puts him down face first into a trashcan, and then rolls him down a hill.
  • The real Tommy Lee shows up and shows off a few facial piercings.
  • JUMP SCENES
  • None.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • A tiny bit of comically suspenseful music plays in one scene.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • Various songs had lyrics that we couldn't understand, but we did hear the following: One song has the lyrics, "I'm just a love machine. A hugging, kissing thing." Others include words such as "crappy" and "hell."
  • PROFANITY
  • At least 1 muffled "f" word (another is bleeped out), 11 "s" words, 3 slang terms for sex ("laid" and "do her"), at least 23 slang terms for male genitals ("d*ck" and "manhood"), 2 slang terms for breasts ("boobs"), 22 asses (5 used with "hole"), 5 hells, 1 crap, 2 uses each of "G-damn" and "Oh God" and 1 use each of "God awful," "Good God," "My Lord" and "Oh my God" as exclamations.
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • We see a flashback of Dizzy having been tied to a chair and wearing a rubber chest plate with fake breasts on it (this is seen several times and then on two other people as well).
  • Various female students, along with a school official, show varying amounts of cleavage in various outfits throughout the film.
  • After a pretty girl touches Dizzy's arm, she then adversely reacts to him having an erection in his pants (that we don't see) and someone jokes about "nice pup tent." An older librarian seated in a rolling office chair then claims, "It's mine now," and is apparently holding his erection as he tries to back up and thus pulls her along with him. She then apparently breaks his penis (we don't see that, but do see his pained reaction). A school official then says that his condition is medically treatable and Dizzy incredulously asks about being able to "pee around a corner" as we see him with an ice pack on his clothed crotch.
  • An evangelical minister preaches about sexual abstinence to a group of young people. Dizzy, under the influence of some prescription drugs a school official has given him, then addresses the crowd about sex and says that the best form of sexual abstinence is "being me." He then mentions his "manhood" being at a right angle.
  • Luther mentions that in prison, "Sex you want, you ain't getting. Sex you getting, you don't want."
  • Danielle mentions something about someone stuffing something down another girl's panties, causing that girl to indicate she's not wearing any.
  • Glen tells Dizzy that Courtney is the "sluttiest" girl he's ever seen, that Dizzy has to "do her," and that when he's with her, he should think of him (making Glen state that sounded gay). Other comments are made about getting "jiggy" with her and making her say, "Who's your daddy?" We then see a yearbook photo of Courtney with her tongue suggestively out of her mouth.
  • At a party at night, Courtney asks Dizzy if he wants to go upstairs with her. She then asks if he wants to make out with her and take her clothes off with his teeth. She then enthusiastically says, "Okay you talked me into it. Are you coming? He replies, "Almost" (double entendre).
  • Later, Courtney asks Dizzy if it "turns you on" that they could get caught at any moment (as she starts to unbutton her top while both are up on a roof). She then asks if he's ready for desert and reaches for what looks like chocolate syrup, but he accidentally rolls off the roof.
  • Conner confronts Dizzy, says that he's a fraud and adds that he (Dizzy) hasn't "been with anyone" (sexually).
  • As Dizzy leaves the party, he shouts out, "I almost got laid!"
  • As Dizzy sits and watches (and pulls a lollipop from his mouth that seems to have gotten bigger), Danielle models various skimpy bikinis (and dances around in them) that show a great deal of skin and cleavage (in a montage). Later, we hear that this was just an exaggerated part of the tale told by Luther (but we saw it nonetheless).
  • After a guy comments on the universe being upside down, a girl tells him that he'll be that way as well (some sort of sexual reference).
  • We see Danielle and other cheerleaders in their small panty like bottoms as their skirts fly up during some routines.
  • As Danielle rides a mechanical bull in a bar, we see (and she comments) that she's wearing just a small bandana as her shirt (that covers just part of her front).
  • There's some passionate kissing between Nora and Glen (with her leg up alongside his body as they stand), prompting Kirk to tell them to get a room.
  • During the outtakes, the real Tommy Lee tells a student that he needs some humus "to cover this beautiful girl's entire body" (she's clothed and we don't see anything else).
  • SMOKING
  • None.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • None.
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • Dizzy lies about himself and his past in an effort to impress other students at his new school.
  • Dealing with bullies and others who don't respect you for who you are.
  • Dizzy decides he must get himself expelled from school (so that he can attend a different one and start his reputation anew) by breaking rules and acting like a delinquent.
  • VIOLENCE
  • Someone throws something (that may have been a football) that hits Dizzy on the head.
  • After a pretty girl touches Dizzy's arm, he gets an erection that an older librarian grabs (we don't see it) and then apparently breaks his penis (we don't see that, but do see his pained reaction).
  • While under the influence of some prescription drugs a school official has given him, Dizzy knocks an evangelical preacher aside to address the crowd.
  • As we see a prisoner attempting to escape (and then disappearing off camera), we hear a gunshot from a guard (but don't know if the prisoner was hit). We later hear the gunshot again in another scene.
  • One prisoner backhands another in the crotch. He then shows Dizzy how to fight and thus kicks Dizzy in the crotch and then knees him in the face.
  • To make Dizzy climb up a hanging rope faster, Luther lights the bottom of it on fire. We then see a glimpse of Dizzy falling to the ground, possibly on fire.
  • Dizzy kicks the above prisoner in the crotch and then knees him in the face.
  • A student at a school hits a mascot with a pipe.
  • Conner punches Dizzy, sending him flying through the air. In response, Dizzy eventually kicks this guy in the crotch and knees him the face.
  • Dizzy then struggles to drag a dazed Conner into the school, hoping to show the other students he can beat him up. During this, Conner slides across a wall and cracks his head on a glass display case (breaking the glass). Dizzy then head-butts Conner, sending him to the floor unconscious.
  • Dizzy inadvertently causes a school statue to catch on fire.
  • Kirk accidentally lets a motorcycle fly out from under him and crash into a garage door, knocking it down.
  • Dizzy accidentally rolls off a roof (we don't see any impact).
  • When Kirk suddenly slams on the breaks after towing Dizzy on a motorcycle, the bike slams into the back of the car and Dizzy flies up over the top and lands on the hood.
  • Conner smacks an empty drink can onto the side of the head of one of his friends who then accidentally turns and smacks his head on a beam of some sort. He later backhands a friend on the chest or stomach (telling him to shut up).
  • A record store employee struggles with another person. We then see him drop behind a counter - elbow first - apparently onto another person and then see him using a box to hit that person (the counter blocks our view of any impact).
  • Conner picks up the diminutive Ed Ligget, puts him down face first into a trashcan, and then rolls him down a hill.
  • There's some brief, but intense football violence on the field during several games.
  • Dizzy accidentally flings a burning marshmallow onto his father's eye, sending the latter falling to the ground screaming with burning goo on his face. This is seen again in the outtakes.
  • A woman running a mechanical bull in a bar knocks Dizzy down a few times and then throws him quite hard from the ride (and hits him on the back of the neck with a whip).
  • Two guys break a skateboard on top of another guy's head during a football game and then struggle with him.
  • An upset jock knocks things from people's hands and then picks up Ed and tosses him aside. He then punches another guy in the face and is prepared to fight Dizzy, but many students rush and tackle him, with Ed hitting him with a trashcan (we don't see the impact).
  • Someone throws a bottle onto a stage where it breaks.
  • Some guards hold guns on Conner and a jock who are then restrained by people in a crowd.
  • Conner head-butts Dizzy.
  • In the outtakes, Danielle falls from the back of a horse and hits the ground.



  • Reviewed May 7, 2002 / Posted May 10, 2002

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