[9/3/2002 3:04:30 PM | Andy Kovacs]
"ABC News says Americans spend $300 billion every year on games of chance, and that doesn't even include weddings and elections."
- Argus Hamilton


[9/3/2002 3:15:33 PM | Andy Kovacs]
Top 5 Robin Williams Movies
1) Dead Poets Society (1989)
2) Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
3) Hook (1991)
4) One Hour Photo (2002)
5) Popeye (1980)


[9/3/2002 3:48:42 PM | Andy Kovacs]
The New Guy

The New Guy stars DJ Qualls (that really sickeningly scrawny kid from Road Trip) as Dizzy 'Gil' Harrison. It's the story of a loser who, with the help of a convict and both fellow convicts and prison officials, undergoes a major makeover both physically and mentally. The 'Hero' then changes schools and becomes a living legend of sorts.

This is your classic 'Rags-to-Riches' film but with a dollup teen-angst-comedy. I wasn't rolling on the floor, but there were moments when I laughed out loud and kept chuckling for a few moments afterward, which, all things considered, is all that anyone can ask of it.

What had lead me to not like this movie much initially was that the movie felt rushed. The moments that were sentimental weren't given time to develop resulting in a detached identification with the characters. For instance: there is a scene in which Gil (Qualls) is in a music store in the shopping mall with Danielle (Eliza Dushku). He runs into his best friends from his old school (the dorks) and he sloughs them off so that Danielle wouldn't find out his true nature. Gil then shows up to the dorks' garage-band rehearsal and apologizes. No conflict, no slightly-angry words. Nothing. The two parties make up and that is that.

But then I remembered that this is just a simple screwball comedy aimed at the lowest-common denominator (yes, myself included) whose sole objective is to make the audience laugh (and to try to make as much money as possible in the theaters and on video). The New Guy made me laugh and that's all I can ask of a movie like this. This movie isn't going to win any awards and I can guarantee that the producers never had any misconceived notions of its (non)greatness. Don't go looking for anything profound. If you decide to see it, just let yourself laugh and enjoy the movie. Looking critically at the first half of the movie was my biggest mistake. I'll give The New Guy **1/2 stars out of 4. It's worth the rental, but not the late fee.

-andy