The New Guy (2002)

Director Ed Decter, who worked on the screenplay for There's Something About Mary, seems to be the only Farrelly alumnus thus far to actually absorb the reasons why the Farrelly films are so popular -- it's not the gross-out humor, it's the generous spirit behind it all. And while this film does have the occasional body-function gag, its good-naturedness is why it works at all. I mean, honestly, this film is a mess, with a plot that makes zero sense, characters who appear and disappear at will and scenes that seem to exist only because someone couldn't think of another movie to put them in. (That seems to describe the whole prison plotline, actually.) I really shouldn't have laughed at all, but I found myself chuckling on regular occasions, partly because the film was just so darn likeable and partly because DJ Qualls is just so darn likeable. Anyone else in the titular role, the film crashes. With DJ, the film doesn't exactly soar, but it does hover a bit. Sloppy but ingratiating. (Also occasionally quite weird -- at the very least, this is the only film where you'll see Lyle Lovett get hit in the eye with a flaming marshmallow.)

Grade: B-