New Guy

Watched this a while back just after release and highly enjoyed it. It has a subtle build up that something's amiss and then piles it on. I've watched a heck of a lot of movies and this is one them that every so often I go back too. Got the dvd and hope maybe one day it will get a hd airing. You gotta dream. Anyhow sweet movie.

I have had a chance to view this dark comedy (I'm not sure the horror classification is entirely accurate, but...) several times now. Bilge Ebiri, a fellow Turkish-American, shows an appreciation for films of many genres. One can see the influences of Kubrick, Capra (yes, I said Capra), Hitchcock, Wilder, DePalma, and the Coen Bros., yet the film is strikingly original. The title character is caught up in a nightmare of office politics, where an annoying toy car and Post-It notes become deeper symbols of his social oppression which indeed follows him home from work. This is illustrated quite well in a scene where the title character is caught between two attractive women as they talk about the difficulties of having sex in New York. The scene is made funny by the fact that both of them are completely oblivious to him despite his physical promixity. Thus, he is a man who is ignored by women and ostrechized by men. He seemingly can not win, but like most tragic heroes, he is determined not to lose. The film's digital shoot gives it an intimate quality and the tight spaces makes us feel for the title's character's inherent suffocation. As a former newspaper reporter, I could certainly relate to this film and it reminds me of the lyrics to that old Nick Lowe song "Cruel to be Kind." "New Guy" is an intriguing, subversive look at the 9-to-5 hell that is the modern workplace.

I saw New Guy at 22th Ýstanbul International Film Festival today..I liked it so much..And also I had chance to meet with director Bilge Ebiri..She is so nice and talented person..She answered people questions very well with fun.. New Guy is an excellent movie with its low budget...I congragulated Bilge and I started to wait her 2nd movie now..I consider it to all..

I watched this movie at Cinequest in San Jose on its second showing. The film was as funny as Office Space and as it gradually gets scarier, the feeling was awesome. On top of that, Bilge made this movie for about $55,000, which was an amazing achievement. If this movie is showing in your area in a festival or gets picked up in distribution, you should definitely check it out.

New Guy [2003:NR:85; Comedy:Occupational] (Liked) -- On his first day at his new job, Gregg discovers a strange corporate culture that borders on the absurd and finds himself in a downward spiral that end in a nightmarish evening at the office. -- Starting off as a comedy that can only be described by comparing it to `Office Space', `New Guy' brings laughter without trying too hard. The halfway point of the movie is marked by a transition into more and more horrifying situations that do not leave the realm of plausibility. The movie is well paced and invokes laughter and fear simultaneously in the audience mainly because of the excellent acting by newcomer Kelly Miller.

****1/2

I had no idea what to expect when I put this movie into the DVD player. A friend of mine had recommended it to me because I really love Scorsese's "After Hours" and she said this had a similar weird one night in hell vibe to it. Boy was she right.

The movie starts off very simple yet strange with the new guy arriving in the bathroom and stepping into the stall that everybody who works there knows not to step into. Then it just gets harder and harder for him to fit in. His co-workers are strange, one minute they're like trying to be best friends with him, the next minute it's like he never existed. It's kind of like high school, come to think of it.

The director must have spent a lot of time in an office because all of the details of office life are right, from the guy who's always faxing, to the creepy stains on the walls that you're always wondering where they came from, to the boss who lets his son run wild around the office. I think this movie was made before "The Office" TV series and all those TV commercials that satirize office life.

And then, the movie goes from weird hilarious to weird creepy and finally weird weird. A lot of people have said they don't "get" the ending, but I think that is part of the point. I think it was meant to be ambiguous and uncertain. I like the fact that there were no easy resolutions or explanations. I look forward to seeing what this director does next.