Roger Dodger

ROGER DODGER (2002) ***1/2 Campbell Scott, Jesse Eisenberg, Isabella Rosselini, Elizabeth Berkley, Jennifer Beals. Scott gives a remarkable performance as a silver-tongued misanthropic New York advertising copywriter facing a personal crises that only takes fuel to the fire when his teenage nephew Eisenberg (a nice thurst and parry polar opposite turn) comes to visit him to gain some insight to his ‘lady killing' social skills which leads to a night of unveiling some inner demons via his fast-talking eviscerations and character assassinations in a furiously funny way. Scott's bravura (and brave) take on a smart, verbose and insecure jerk straddles the fine line of being a complete monster and an honest to goodness dyed-in-the-wool cynic on the subject of the fairer sex (who are represented smartly by Rosselini as his on-the-skids lover/employer and Berkley and Beals as two young women the relatives hit on in an eye-opening lesson in the battle of the sexes and what it really means to be a man. A real sleeper gem with wickedly snaring arch humor to spare. Written and directed by novice filmmaker Dylan Kidd is one of the few politically incorrect triumphs in recent memory.

I wouldn't have thought from previews that "Roger Dodger" would have an ounce of romance in it, but it does. The scene between Elizabeth Berkeley, Jennifer Beals (both very good by the way--who would have thought?) and Roger's nephew is incredibly sweet and touching, but without being overly sentimental or cloying. Campbell Scott gives a fabulous performance as Roger, illustrating how broad his acting range is. My only complaint with the movie is its incredibly annoying cinematography. All of the compositions are cluttered and claustrophobic, sometimes so much so that the main focus of the shot is entirely obscured. And this trend toward hand-held cameras needs to be stopped. I think directors feel that hand-held cinematography lends a gritty, realistic point of view to their films, but more frequently it serves only to distract.

But a fairly minor quibble about an otherwise very good film.

Grade: A-

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.

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")

Rather unpleasant movie with a terrific performance by Scott as a quick-witted chauvinist. I liked the opening scene best, which was sharp and funny and drew Scott's character very nicely, but I felt the movie never had a clear idea of its own intentions and never knew where it was going, which is why it never really gets anywhere.

Now, on the one hand I can understand not wanting to make the movie pat, not wanting to spell things out for the viewer, but I just felt not enough was done with Scott's obvious rage and self-destructive behavior. The movie gives you a fairly awful person but veers uncomfortably between showing you him at his worst and trying to work up some empathy with him, a gambit that fails because the character is always kept at an emotional distance.

I gave this 7/10 but I'm not sure if it deserved something that high or not. But it is intriguing.

By the way, the cinematography, which has elicited a lot of hostility, didn't bother me at all. I saw it on TV, perhaps it's more bothersome in the theater.