The New Guy
Reception

The New Guy (2002)

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External reception

5.8
5 platform(s) · 7 ratings 41,727 votes
6.8/10 1,029 votes Synced 2026-07-28
5.8/10 39,996 votes Synced 2026-08-20
Audience 6.3/10 23 votes Synced 2026-07-21
Critics 2.4/10 Synced 2026-07-21
Audience 5.4/10 Synced 2026-07-21
Critics 0.7/10 Synced 2026-07-21
6.0/10 679 votes Synced 2026-09-09

External reviews

A.O. Scott · The New York Times 40.00/100.00

A bad-taste comedy with a heart.

synced 2026-07-21
Michael Wilmington · Chicago Tribune 25.00/100.00

You have to have faith that kids will recognize a bad movie when it's foisted on them -- and they don't get much worse than The New Guy.

synced 2026-07-21
Roger Ebert · Chicago Sun-Times 50.00/100.00

It makes little sense, fails as often as it succeeds, and yet is not hateful and is sometimes quite cheerfully original.

synced 2026-07-21
Nathan Rabin · The A.V. Club 40.00/100.00

A comedy just funny enough to make viewers wish it were far funnier.

synced 2026-07-21
Rick Groen · The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 63.00/100.00

If physical appearance creates its own class system (in high school and beyond), then Qualls is perfect for this proselytizing role. He has that rarest of movie-star faces -- one that over comes the tyranny of beauty.

synced 2026-07-21
Owen Gleiberman · Entertainment Weekly 58.00/100.00

A Jekyll-and-Hyde teen comedy that sounds like a Pauly Shore reject, but Qualls moves his marionette body around with a true clown's effervescence, and he does rubber-faced parodies of youth cool that are just what youth cool deserves.

synced 2026-07-21
Jonathan Foreman · New York Post 50.00/100.00

Uneven but occasionally hilarious teen comedy.

synced 2026-07-21
Jonathan Rosenbaum · Chicago Reader 40.00/100.00

It isn't very good, but it doesn’t seem to care, which turns out to be rather refreshing.

synced 2026-07-21

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