Roger Dodger
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Roger Dodger
Plot
Writer/director Dylan Kidd got a chance to make his script for Roger Dodger into a feature film when he boldly approached Campbell Scott in a café in Greenwich Village and made his pitch. Eventually, Scott would agree to executive produce and star in the film, and was responsible for bringing Jennifer Beals and Isabella Rossellini onboard. Scott stars as the eponymous Roger, a successful New York ad man and self-proclaimed master of reading and manipulating women. The film begins with Roger out for drinks with his co-workers and demonstrating his verbal gifts. "Words are my stock in trade," he explains as he expounds. But he soon learns that his boss, Joyce (Rossellini), wants to end their clandestine sexual relationship. Roger gets another shock when his teenaged nephew, Nick (Jesse Eisenberg of TV's Get Real), shows up unannounced the next day at his job. Nick explains that he's in town for an interview at Columbia and soon admits that he wants Roger to take him out and give him a crash course on women. Soon the pair is out carousing, but when they run into the lovely Andrea (Elizabeth Berkley) and her friend, Sophie (Jennifer Beals), Roger discovers that despite Nick's sexual desperation, the teen is temperamentally unsuited to Roger's transparent womanizing mode of operation. In short, Nick is a sweet, open, and sensitive boy, while Roger proves himself to be a misogynist pig. Their differences grow even starker when Roger decides to crash a party Joyce is throwing that night, and brings Nick along. Roger Dodger was named the Best Narrative Feature in competition at the 2002 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, RoviReview
Roger Dodger is an impressive debut for writer/director Dylan Kidd. Kidd has written a lot of sharp dialogue, gets strong performances from his accomplished cast, and he keeps the action moving at a nice, jaunty pace. Campbell Scott (Singles, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle), as the title character, again demonstrates his adeptness at playing amusingly loquacious men. Roger's apparent belief that he can talk himself out of -- or into -- anything provides a great deal of the film's humor. Jennifer Beals and Elizabeth Berkley are smart and sympathetic as the women pursued by Roger and his young nephew, Nick (Jesse Eisenberg), and Kidd invests these characters with the necessary depth to give Roger's manipulative games an unpleasant edge. Eisenberg is a likeable presence, and believable as an adolescent of above-average intellect and sensitivity, who's in danger of letting his horniness get the better of him. Unfortunately, Kidd goes a bit overboard in providing Nick with goofy eccentricities. He meditates to calm himself down ("Why should you calm down? You're a teenager," notes Roger). Okay, but he carries around instructions for his body to be cryogenically frozen? That comes across as something only a movie teen would do. The reason he gives to Roger for his appearance in New York will be transparent to even the most dimwitted of viewers, so it's surprising that the hyper-perceptive Roger can't see through it. Some of the humor in the film is a bit forced, and while Roger proves himself quite slimy over the course of the narrative, Kidd, apparently at a loss as to how to resolve things, makes him a bit too cute and cuddly in the end. ~ Josh Ralske, RoviCast
- Campbell Scott - Roger
- Jesse Eisenberg - Nick
- Isabella Rossellini - Joyce
- Elizabeth Berkley - Andrea
- Jennifer Beals - Sophie
Credit
Dina Varano - Art Director, Laylee Olfat - Casting, Marcia Turner - Casting, Amy Westcott - Costume Designer, Marco Londoner - First Assistant Director, Dylan Kidd - Director, Andy Keir - Editor, Campbell Scott - Executive Producer, Martin Garvey - Executive Producer, Craig Wedren - Composer (Music Score), Stephen Beatrice - Production Designer, Joaquin Baca-Asay - Cinematographer, Anne Chaisson - Producer, Dylan Kidd - Producer, George VanBuskirk - Producer, Brenna Giffin - Set Designer, Theresa Radka - Sound/Sound Designer, Dylan Kidd - Screenwriter
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Roger Dodger (film)
| Roger Dodger | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Dylan Kidd |
| Produced by | Dylan Kidd Anne Chaisson Campbell Scott |
| Written by | Dylan Kidd |
| Starring | Campbell Scott Jesse Eisenberg Isabella Rosselini Elizabeth Berkley Jennifer Beals |
| Music by | Craig Wedren |
| Cinematography | Joaquin Baca-Asay |
| Editing by | Andy Keir |
| Studio | Holedigger Films |
| Distributed by | Artisan Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | May 9, 2002 (Tribeca) October 25, 2002 |
| Running time | 106 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English German |
| Box office | $1,934,497 |
Roger Dodger is a 2002 American comedy-drama noir that explores the relationship between men, women, and sex. Directed by Dylan Kidd and starring Campbell Scott and Jesse Eisenberg, the film follows Roger Swanson (Scott) and his nephew (Eisenberg) during a night on the town in search of sex.
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Contents
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Plot
After cynical New York advertising copywriter Roger Swanson (Campbell Scott) is dumped by his on-again/off-again girlfriend, Joyce (Isabella Rossellini) — who is also his boss — his painful workday is further complicated by the unexpected arrival of his 16-year-old nephew, Nick (Jesse Eisenberg). After asking to spend the night at Roger's, Nick reveals that he has come to ask for help—in hopes of ditching his virginal status, Nick begs Roger for a lesson in the art of seduction. Embittered Roger then takes on the role of a nocturnal drill sergeant in an imaginary war between the sexes, starting Nick's training at an upscale singles bar. There they meet two beautiful women (Jennifer Beals and Elizabeth Berkley) who turn out to be less malleable than Roger expects.
Although this first attempt to seduce women is unsuccessful, Nick chooses to continue the quest, which takes them to a party at Joyce's. There they find Joyce's secretary drunk and attempt to capitalize. Once in the bedroom Nick's conscience gets the better of him and he allows her to fall asleep untouched.
With Roger spinning out of control and Nick's window of opportunity closing rapidly, they agree to go with the "Fail Safe" plan. This turns out to be an underground brothel. At the underground location Roger finds he cannot let Nick lose his virginity in such an emotionally barren atmosphere, and drags him back to his apartment to sleep things off. Roger has failed to introduce his nephew to the mysteries of the world, but has perhaps gained a glimmer of a conscience. Nick travels back to Ohio but Roger shows up unexpectedly to tutor Nick and his classmates on their home turf, bonding with the younger men in a more potent way in an atmosphere populated by adolescent peers.
At the closing, it is left open which way Nick will go.
Cast
- Campbell Scott as Roger Swanson
- Jesse Eisenberg as Nick
- Isabella Rossellini as Joyce
- Elizabeth Berkley as Andrea
- Jennifer Beals as Sophie
- Ben Shenkman as Donovan
- Mina Badie as Donna
- Chris Stack as Chris
Reception
The film was not a major commercial success, but was critically well-received, winning multiple awards in 2002-03. It also served as the coming-out for Jesse Eisenberg, who was widely acclaimed for his conflicted performance.
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 122 reviews; the consensus states "The movie could have benefited from a more experienced director, but a great cast and script overcome any first time jitters the director may have had."[1] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 75 out of 100, based on 33 reviews.[2]
References
- ^ "Roger Dodger – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/roger_dodger/. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
- ^ "Roger Dodger (2002): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/rogerdodger. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
External links
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