Theatrical Release Date: May 10, 2002

Run Time: 92 Minutes

Director: Ed Decter

Cast:
DJ Qualls as Dizzy Harrison/Gil Harris
Eliza Dushku as Danielle
Zooey Deschanel as Nora
Jerod Mixon as Kirk
Parry Shen as Glen
Lyle Lovett as Bear Harrison
Eddie Griffin as Luther
Geoffrey Lewis as Principal Zaylor
Sunny Mabrey as Courtney
Ross Patterson as Connor
Matt Gogin as Ed Ligget
Illeana Douglas as Kiki Pierce
Henry Rollins as the Warden
Horatio Sanz as Dance Instructor
Tony Hawk as Himself
Vanilla Ice as the Music Store Employee

Background:
Following in the footsteps in several teen-comedy like American Pie, American Pie 2, National Lampoon's Van Wilder, and Road Trip, The New Guy makes a dire attempt to be a hilarious comedy. This feature is the directorial debut of Ed Decter. In this release we are presented with the director's cut which features approximately four additional minutes of footage over the theatrical release.

The Story:
At a young age Dizzy Harrison's (DJ Qualls) mother left him and his father Bear Harrison (Lyle Lovett). This incident screwed up an already weird kid to feel the need for acceptance. As Dizzy grows older he wants nothing more than to be accepted, to be popular, to be loved. However he and his friends Kirk (Jerod Mixon), Glen (Parry Shen), and Nora (Zooey Deschanel) are nothing more than "Blips" on a radar. The only time somebody notices them is to humiliate them.

It's now Dizzy and his gang's senior year of high school at Rock Creek and on the first day of school something terribly embarrassing happens to Dizzy. As a consequence Dizzy ends up in the hospital where he gets a little too much medication, which leads him to jail. Here is where he meets a new friend Luther (Eddie Griffin) who under went a similar experience of being a big time loser. Luther becomes Dizzy's mentor in advising and helping him change his life for the better.

They devise a plan for Dizzy to get kicked out of his existing high school and start over. At his new school, East Highland Dizzy changes his style and becomes Gil Harris, one of the biggest and baddest dudes on campus. As Dizzy, the new guy rises in fame and popularity he attracts the attention of Danielle (Eliza Dushku) and makes her boyfriend Connor (Ross Patterson) a bit too jealous. And after blowing off his "uncool" friends, the Blips, Dizzy makes a real effort to dissolve the boundaries of the popular and unpopular kids to make things right.

Synopsis from DVD:
"THE NEW GUY is a fresh and wildly hilarious comedy starring DJ Qualls (Road Trip), Eliza Dushku (Bring It On), Zooey Deschanel (Almost Famous), Lyle Lovett (The Opposite of Sex) and Eddie Griffin (Undercover Brother). Ed Decter, co-writer of the comedy hit There's Something About Mary, makes his directorial debut in this outrageous, laugh-out-loud comedy.

Terminally nerdy Dizzy Harrison (Qualls) is routinely laughed at, ridiculed and picked on. His senior year is nothing but an exercise in pain and torture. So Dizzy decides to change his luck. After purposely getting expelled from school, he enrolls in a rival high school with a new look, becomes a major stud and finds himself the big man on campus-complete with girls, popularity and more girls! But when his past resurfaces and threatens to expose the real Dizzy, he must rise to the occasion to show the world exactly what he's all about."

The DVD

Video:
The video was presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio Widescreen anamorphic. The picture quality was pretty good for the most part, noticeably better than the non-director's cut version. The feature did contain a very subtle grainy picture effect.

Sound:
The audio presented in this feature included English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The sound quality was good. I noticed no issues with the sound quality. The sound level was very stable throughout entire feature. I did not have to adjust the volume on the television. However my entertainment system is limited to two channels and the audio was down mixed to 2-channels.

Subtitles:
This feature had caption subtitles in English and French languages. The English subtitles presented in this feature were pretty much exact to the spoken dialogue. There were a few bits of dialogue that were not presented in the subtitles or statements that were summarized. The subtitles and dialogue were presented in sync.

Extras:
The extras are pretty light in this feature. We are given the same extras in the non-director's cut version, some theatrical trailers, music video of Simple Plan's "I'm Just a Kid", and a cast and crew commentary. Nothing really special.

Final Thoughts:
This movie definitely has its comical bits, but really overall as a film it's not that great. Part of this problem is that this comedy's lead roles are filled by individuals who aren't that comical. Sure Eddie Griffin is hilarious in this film but he has a very limited role. The lead roles played by DJ Qualls and Eliza Dushku just aren't that funny. Neither of these two bring much in terms of comedy to the presentation. Likewise the other roles aren't filled by individuals who are funny. However they do have their moments, but really the comedy isn't that big in this feature.

This release of the director's cut doesn't bring much to the table in comparison to the original video release. Sure there are four more minutes of footage and a commentary track, but really it doesn't affect the overall story much. So if you've seen the original version, there's no real point in seeing this version. It's almost identical. Now if you haven't seen it, it's worth a rental.

Feel free to check out the following non-director's cut reviews of Aaron Beierle review of The New Guy and Adam Tyner review of The New Guy.

Here is a brief overview of some of the additions and modifications to the film. Contains possible spoilers.

Each different scene from the original release is given with the specific chapter affected in both releases. However if the chapters vary it is specified. Scenes denoted deleted scene are scenes that included new material. Scene denoted alternative scene are scenes that replace scenes from the original release.