New Guy

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

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.

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.

An overall disappointment although made on a small budget and has good points, it draws blanks at any good twist and has a poor storyline. As the the story folds it tends to get bleak and draws on in a fantasy office. Gregg the new guy never really shows any emotion and the story lacks development in characters. Before the first unexpected twist of a setup the story is really dull and almost turned off. After the twist it could have unravelled out more into maybe a great storyline as gregg turned an offering of sacrifice. But this all came to an end and it was all some kind of long dream for gregg. All in all poor film, not enough detail in characters and surroundings. Twist were good but came to sudden ends and the story comes to a complete standstill with loose ends untied.

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.