Roger Dodger

In Manhattan, the arrogant, cynical and witty Roger Swanson (Campbell Scott) is a publicist of an advertisement agency owned by Joyce (Isabella Rossellini), who is also his lover. Joyce breaks their relationship due to the lack of maturity and manipulative behavior of Roger. Meanwhile, his sixteen years old nephew from Ohio Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) unexpectedly arrives in his office asking Roger to teach him how to seduce women. Along the night, Roger drags Nick into New York nightlife providing directions about women.

"Roger Dodger" is a great study of two characters: the corruptive, arrogant and cynical Roger and his naive and pure Nick. What I liked most in this amoral urban tale is the counterpoint of their actions. The personality of Roger, brilliantly played by Scott Campbell, is very well developed, but if his methods of approaching women work or not it is never clear. When the two ladies in the bar leave him, he says to Nick that his tactic was "bad uncle, good nephew". Later he confesses to Nick that he does not necessarily score one woman per night, as he previously mentioned. He blows his relationship with Joyce and loses his job due to his immaturity and arrogance. His fail safe ending of the night was in a brothel. Therefore, it seems that his despicable procedures are not so well-succeed as Nick and his mother believe. Nick is the symbol of innocence, and curiously the women in the bar liked his behavior, probably recalling their youths. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Roger, o Conquistador" ("Roger, the Conqueror")

This first film of director Dylan Kidd is a smart and entertaining tentative for a male version of 'Sex in the City'. There certainly is a question mark over the morality of a story involving a 16 years young boy tutored into skirt-chase by his adult uncle, and this is one of the very few occasions where the R-rate is justified in my eyes. However, in the era of 'Sex in the City' this genre is already in line with popular entertainment.

The film is smart, extremely well acted, sometimes funny, sometimes moving and overall a pleasant cinema experience. It is probably worth seeing on small screen, as many scenes are intentionally filmed with an unsure hand-held camera. This works well on TV screen, may be a problem in a theater. 8 out of 10 on my personal scale.

Meet Roger Swanson, the world's most arrogant and chauvinistic SOB. To him, women are inferior and are to be regarded as conquests. Yet as appalling and thoroughly unlikable as Roger is, he's played by Campbell Scott, who's so good that he makes Roger a person who is quite literally addicting to watch.

After getting dumped by his boss, Joyce (Isabella Rossellini), the ultimate player Roger is more than a little peeved. But when his nephew shows up at his office asking for advice on women, Roger takes it upon himself to show the 16 year old how to be the ultimate womanizer.

Needless to say, this film is about Roger. Unless the performance was pitch-perfect, the film would fall flat on its face. Fortunately, indie-film king Campbell Scott is playing him. Campbell Scott is dynamite. With a razor-sharp wit and an arsenal of one-liners, pick-up lines and other assorted ways of getting sex, Roger is compulsively watchable. There's really not much that he says that hasn't been said before, but Scott is so stunning that it doesn't matter. His dialogue is electric, and Scott attacks it with relish. Yet as darkly funny as some of the things he says are, Scott understands all facets of Roger. His scenes with Joyce are some of the most telling about Roger, and arguably some of his most well-acted. He still has the same penchant for one-liners and shocking views on women, but Scott delivers it with anger and frustration.

His co-stars are great as well. Jesse Eisenberg is terrific as his nervous nephew, Nick. He's young and naiive, and Roger is more than happy to enlighten him. Their two targets, Andrea (Elizabeth Berkley) and Sophie (Jennifer Beals) are terrific. Both are gorgeous, and are totally into Nick (and to his surprise, not the least bit into Roger). Andrea has a wit to match Roger's, while Sophie is nice and falls for Nick. Isabella Rossellini is also solid as Joyce, Roger's boss, who is more than a little annoyed with him when he won't let their affair end.

Dylan Kidd has a terrific script. Unfortunately, this was shot on a hand-held camera, which is not the way to shoot it. However, this was probably due to budget constraints. The only scene that doesn't work is the final one. It's out of character for Roger, and thus rings false.

Yet this film is all Campbell Scott. The cast and script may help, but this is his movie. And Campbell Scott is unforgettable in a performance that in a perfect world, would have garnered him an Oscar. We can only hope that in the future the prestigious award will finally come his way.

Newcomer Dylan Kidd's first feature is a very refreshing exercise in filmmaking. This is an incredible debut for Mr Kidd. Let's hope his next release will be worth of the promise he shows in this one.

Of course, this film would be nothing without the presence of Campbell Scott. Mr. Scott gets better with every new screen appearance. His Roger is a tragic figure in spite of the front he presents to all the women he tries to conquer. The last scenes of Roger in his apartment are nothing short of magnificent. We get to see the real man then, and it's not funny what we see.

The interplay with the nephew, Nick, beautifully played by Jesse Eisenberg, is the best acting of the year.

The women in the film are brilliant too. Isabella Rosellini is incredible as Roger's boss. The ladies in the single bar, Elizabeth Berkley and Jennifer Beals are true portraits of women that are looking for Mr. Right in the wrong places.

This film is a rarity. Discover it.

Roger Swanson (Campbell Scott) scores every night, he likes to say. However, he has a breakup with his boss and lover (well, duh…) Joyce (Isabella Rossellini), and his 16-year-old nephew Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) shows up, saying that he was looking at colleges in the New York area and decided to give his favorite Uncle Roger a visit. Roger talks a mile a minute, very suave like, and decides to take Nick out on the town in search of sex, which, he claims, is `everywhere'.

A fine, inventive movie, with good acting by the leads. Not many movies would dare to go out on a limb, and this isn't a Hollywood movie (it's distributed by Artisan), but those who have seen it have enjoyed it. Its script, by director Dylan Kidd, is often funny, and could go as Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask Part 2, since Nick is basically naïve and oblivious. However, the script leads into the first problem I would like to talk about.

Although funny at many times, during the many lulls, the drama, which is supposed to ensue, doesn't ensue. I didn't feel touched or sympathetic or anything during the `dramatic' sequences, especially during the end, but at least it goes back to comedy, with the fate of Roger and Nick. The script has many laugh-out-loud moments, however. I love the first scene, where Roger is talking to Joyce, Donovan (Ben Shenkman), and Donna (Mina Badie) at the restaurant, and he's going on all about Darwin and evolution, and the eventual fate of the genders. This is a good introduction to Roger: lots of talk, but he can't back it up, and you can tell he has now idea what in the world he is actually saying.

Scott won a few awards for his performance in Roger Dodger, which I can understand. He totally got into his role, and at times it didn't seem like he was acting, everything was coming naturally to him. An example of that is when he's talking to Nick about different ways to look at women (which is about a 10 minute take), he just keeps on talking and talking like it wasn't scripted. I could almost hear the director laughing in the background. I hope that this bounces his career more, because he is a great actor. Eisenberg was also very good as the nervous teen, he also seemed to know what he was doing.

Another point I really liked was the music. It was crystalline, and it sounded solid, which is probably symbolism for Roger: he thinks he's solid with the women, but he really has as much to learn as the student. He thinks that he knows everything that's there, but he doesn't really, and he figures that out throughout the movie. To be forewarned is to be forearmed, so here I go: if you're a feminist or against sexism, this isn't really your movie. Roger's view of women won't appeal to those, but he does talk about that the female sex will eventually rule the earth and men will be their slave (aren't they already?). If you don't mind, though, it's a very good movie that may not deserve all of the acclaim it's getting but is still better than most of the Hollywood drek that's out now.

My rating: 7/10

Rated R for sexuality and language.