NEW ON HOME VIDEO \ This week’s DVD releases

Available Tuesday:

“The Class” (PG-13, 128 minutes): Director Laurent Cantet turns his camera on a French schoolroom and the nightmare that is the contemporary adolescent student body. But the real subject is the teacher, Mr. Marin (Francois Begaudeau). You’re afraid for him, you admire him, you want to know how he does it. And, most of all, you want to know why. The effect of Cantet’s faux-doc, hand-held shooting style is one of intimacy but also suspense. As the relationship between teacher and class ebbs and flows and explodes and degrades, one never knows what is going to happen or where it might come from; the use of close-ups, which has as much to do with the development of the various young characters as anything they say, implies that you can’t be everywhere, your eyes can’t see everything. Contains vulgarity.

“17 Again” (PG-13, 102 minutes): It’s too bad for “17 Again,” Burr Steers’ engaging but pedestrian comedy, that young Zac Efron doesn’t have a little bit more Lindsay Lohan in him. Efron is effortlessly diverting as an adult trapped in a teen’s body. But, unlike Lohan — who gave a rich performance as another adult trapped in a teen’s body in the 2003 remake of “Freaky Friday” — Efron has no edge. And although that edgelessness might prolong his career, it keeps “17 Again” from having anything surprising to say about teen-age life in 2009. Contains language, sexual material and teen partying.

“I Love You, Man” (R, 107 minutes): Paul Rudd is a phonebook actor, meaning he’s just one of those guys who could stand there and read a phone book and we’d laugh. Just watch him in the first few scenes of “I Love You, Man,” when his character, Peter Klaven, listens in on a raunchy conference call between his fianc e, Zooey (Rashida Jones), and her best girlfriends. Or listen as he makes up fake guy-talk when he goes on a first man-date with Sydney Fife (Jason Segel), the shambling Lost Boy whom Peter befriends in hopes of finding a best man for his wedding. “I Love You, Man” features the usual quota of jokes involving masturbation, projectile vomiting and flatulence. But is it worth it? Yes, thanks to Rudd and Segel (and some terrific cameos). Contains pervasive profanity, including crude sexual references. DVD Extras: Includes deleted scenes, outtakes, and gag reel.

Also: “Gigantic,” “The Tiger’s Tail, and “90210: The Complete First Season.”