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Customer Reviews of The Newcomers

Reviewed by Ollie - December 2003

CONTAINS SPOILERS

This is a simple, straightforward film, about a family moving away from the city, to start a new life in a small country town.
After being subjected to bullying, Sam Docherty, played with absolutely no emotion by Matt McCoy, is forced to make the right decision and testify in court against them.

Within ten minutes, the family has moved house, and the eldest daughter is asking where the nearest mall is. At a small garage, Courtney spots the guy who predicatably will later become her love interest. Upon paying for their goods, their credit card is declined, and you know from that point on that this entire movie is going to be predictable.

Within 25 minutes we are introduced the customary "best friend", in the form of an adorable dog, whom it is decided is a stray, with no apparent regard for any owner it may have been fortunate to have. Enter Sam's new neighbour, "Gil", played by Billy Kay. It is instantly apparent that he is a troublemaker. He has a the stereotypical pierced ear of all young hoodlums. What follows is a feeble attempt at their bullying of Sam, followed by a feigned friendship in the hope of becoming closer to the beautiful Courtney. We also meet an elderly and slightly eccentric lady with a pie to greet the family.

What follows is a tired, formulaic tale of a boy, his bullies and his ever faithful dog. "Earring boy", picks on Sam, is chased away by the dog, which looks for all the world like it will lick him death. Father of "earring bully" decides "I don't want you hangin' round new kid"...shortly after this point we learn that his mother died...father raises him alone...blah...blah. The scene of them climbing the fence, with "scared fat kid being scared" may well have been stolen from Stand By Me...

The fairground scene equally predictable and nauseating as we see the "romantic interest" blossom, while bad kids steal fireworks, and you just know "sumthin' bad is gonna happen"
There's even a "bridge crossing" reminiscent of SBM, at which point "bad earring boy" falls into lake, is naturally saved by boy, just before they all go over the waterfall that wasn't there 2 minutes ago, and the dog has disappeared only to make the customary reappearance at the end of the film when everything turns out happily ever after, the good and bad all become friends, and while playing chess (the way new best buddies always do), along comes baddies daddy, with a peace offering, and a hearty welcome and along comes doggie to be greeted with absolutely no emotion by kid, and they all lived happily ever after.

From start to finish, this film is tired and predictable. Even the usually outstanding Paul Franklin Dano and Billy Kay cannot pull this film into life, as the scripting and direction are appalling. This is bland, predictable and formulaic. It is a genuine torture to watch. There are thousands of movie's in this genre, and nearly all do a much better job. If you're looking for a decent "sappy" family film, look elsewhere. Lassie, with Tom Guiry, is a much more enjoyable film, and while as predictable as most of these films are, is at least played out with some passion and enthusiasm.

This film draws heavily on stereotypes, religious beliefs, and family values, in a lame attempt to cobble something remotely resembling a story. By the end of the film, the only thing more tired than myself was the film itself.

Good points? It's a rather nice dog. Most definitely not recommended viewing; A total disappointment from start to finish. If it were possible to give a score of zero, this would definately earn it's score.

Ollie

absolutely average
i agree with review above on some aspects. however, i feel that the acting was on point for most of the film. clearly, this is the product of actors making the best of a bad script, low budget, and poor direction. The same goes for the music. i enjoyed the piano based score, as if a quiet family film needed complex orchestral arrangement or driving themes. this is a truly average film. where it's not going to win any oscars, it gets the job done as safe family fare.

Lifeless, Pointless, Lacking-- You Name It
The Newcomers.
You know a movie is not worth it when you and your sister start trying to predict what'll happen and you end up right-- all the time. You definitely know it when you start getting tears in your eyes because you're so disgusted with the uneventfulness of the movie. Or you start laughing at the idiocy, either one. I did both. The Newcomers is utterly dull, overly long, terribly predictable, absolutely no point whatsoever. Script is weak, characters are weak, plot is weak and sometimes confusing. The list can go on, and on, and on, and on...just like the movie.
From what I understand, it's about this family who go bankrupt, or something. They move to a country home, which is really country as they seem to be out in the middle of nowhere. The son (I forget his name) discovers a friend in a stray dog, which looks like it belongs in a Victorian lady's lap. The son, and family, has trouble with the next door neighbor bully, Gil, and his father. Bascially, the conflict seems to be "big city family moves to country; receives cold welcome from neighbors". Of course, that's resolved when the son saves Gil from drowning. It comes down to an uneventful "we've-seen-it-all-before" ending.
This movie made me feel as though I were watching an over-long Hallmark card commercial, the kind they show when a Hallmark movie is being debuted on CBS or something. Although, with those commercials, there's an objective.
MUSIC: Piano. The whole thing is piano! A slow, dreary, depressing piece of...dullness. I was struck stupid.
ACTING: Lacking. They just can't do it like they mean it. (Except perhaps Kate Bosworth, but that doesn't make her one of my favorites.)
So there you have it: The Newcomers are just not worth visiting.