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.

When I first saw this movie last year, I was generally impressed with the very unique atmosphere the film makers set up even though they clearly had a very low budget to work with. I also liked the main performances, even though there were some small performances that were not so hot. All in all, it was pretty good, nothing big, but just solid, if you know what I mean.

Now, I have been thinking more and more about it since then. I can't get this movie out of my head. From the weird and sad music that plays over the middle part of the movie, to the main character's nearly silent performance, to the strange kind-of-happy kind-of-sad ending where you can't even tell the expression on the character's face. I constantly keep thinking about it and I really want to see it again to see if I am just crazy, or if there are some very interesting things in there. When I first saw it, I would have given it a 6. A couple of months later I was thinking it would be a 7. Then I decided on 8. And now it's all the way up to 10! I hope I can see it again one of these days, to see if my opinions are justified.

The plot is contrived, completely unrealistic, yet without any discernible symbolism which may redeem, or justify such story telling. If some hidden allegory was the writer's intent it certainly escaped me in total.

The story takes place on the first day on the job for Gregg, a young office worker. Right from the start it presents situations that I have never witnessed in my 30+ years of work in an office environment. How does he walk directly to his cubicle in the new place without having been shown to it by anyone in the office is just the first of many events that are left without an explanation, but is typical of the general unsatisfying flavor of the plot.

It is as if the plot was assembled on the go and it encountered many twists and blind alleys from which it could not recover and so it just moved on with no closure.

Ultimately, it ends (alas, not soon enough) enigmatically in another contrived plot twist still without providing a clue to the meaning of the earlier hour-and-a-half of nonsense.

A complete waste of time.

I saw this film about a week ago in the East Village (NY) and have to say I was very impressed. The story was a good one, and it was filmed and put together very nicely. Though truth be told, I don't know how impressed I would have been if not for the performance of Kelly Miller as Gregg. He was truly superb, ranging from absolutely hysterical, to desperately intense. The other actors were fine, they did their job - but Kelly Miller was a true find. Well done! I sort of wanted to end my review, but they want me to write a few more lines, so... My understanding is that the budget was very low, so the filmmakers should be extremely proud of what they were able to do. The end product was a great looking film.

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