Roger Dodger (2002)

Would anyone love a person like Roger Swanson (Scott)? A good-looking New-Yorker, a latter-day Casanova, who can elaborate on the imminent obsolescence of male gender due to the accelerating diminution of its utility, during his working lunch with the presence of his co-workers and their boss Joyce (Rossellini), a woman significantly older than him and whom he has been seeing secretively for quite a long time, he is her "boy".But right in that night, Joyce unilaterally decides to sever their casual affair, Roger doesn't even have his say in it, but at least, the break-up sex is still on the table, so he takes it with a grudge. In a bar, Roger's patronising act to persuade a young girl (Baccani) from putting out to a man whom he claims to a "bad news" to her doesn't pan out like he wants, because ironically, he is also a "bad news" himself and a total stranger, any girl with a good sense of judgement would not let him get what he wants; later he lets loose his frustration by pretentiously derides a much older woman (Emery), who is waiting for her finance alone in the bar, unfortunately sitting next to him.So, the consensus is that we don't like Roger, and no one should, sharp-witted and cerebral, maybe, but he is a callous cad, through and through. However, in the eyes of his nephew, Nick (Eisenberg), who arrives unannounced from Ohio, Roger is a lady's man who proclaims that he can score every night if he wants. Meanwhile, Roger thrills to play his utilitarian role as his wingman once he finds out Nick is a 16-year-old virgin andThe coaching session starts on the sidewalk, by talking, and the gist is that "sex is everywhere", here, the hand-held camera employment from the first-time director Dylan Kidd, a tactic has shown great pragmatism and advantage in its intrusive manner under dialogue-laden, interior- located contexts, causes a somehow fluid and distracting effect al fresco, which trivialises the conversation, however, once the pair plunges into the (retrospectively speaking) three-steps mission to make Nick score that night: hooking-up-ladies-in-the-bar, gatecrashing-a-party and ultimately, the "fail-safe" adventure in a seedy whorehouse, the film becomes unstoppable, accurately captures the nitty-gritty in the metropolitan dating sphere, deceitful, desperate and destructive.A Manichaean strategy to juxtapose an impressionable virgin with a cynical playboy works its way to be beneficial to both parties, Nick, seals his first kiss with an amiable, mature and attractive Sophie (Beals), and sees the vulnerability of a maudlin Donna (Badie), Roger's colleague in the party which Joyce organises and Roger is not invited, and sensibly chooses not to take advantage of her. Roger, however, immersed in his own misery after being cheaply dumped, unexpectedly receives a wake-up call which is just in time for him to rescue Nick from losing his virginity in the most vacuous and crudest way.Scott supremely nails Roger's character as a rapid-fire and eloquent orator edifying his "inconvenient truth" about men and women - some are not truth per se, merely bravado only to sound smart. But Mr. Scott also excavates much deeper under Roger's vain front, he bespeaks a seething soul who has nothing in his grip, who is disheartened by superficiality of the man-woman interrelationship, and the fact that he is constantly under-appreciated for being outspoken about it, yes, that's THE inconvenient truth, if you don't play along with the rule, you are excluded.The film is also Jesse Eisenberg's screen debut, incredibly, his trademark tic of being self- conscious and out-of-the-place has already been honed up to a full blossom. Jennifer Beals and Elizabeth Berkley, make up the pair of the opposite sex as two bar frequenters-cum-friends, Sophie and Andrea, the quartet's breeze-shooting convo is strangely magnetic, both actresses are at the top of their games of being spontaneous and unfeigned, plus Beals beams with warmth in initiating that first kiss!Finishing the movie with a flourish of lacuna, ROGER DODGER resonates pretty well as a snappy and honest take on urban philosophy, a US indie curio with a wider appeal than it seems to have.

It's not often that I actually bother to write a review of a film but I feel it only fair to post my review in order to prevent the general public wasting their precious time on a film that really is one of the worst piles of garbage I have watched in a very long time. There is one thing I have to hand to the producers of this film which is 10/10 for finding the most highly annoying actor (the main character) and also for providing the most bizarre and quite frankly headache inducing way of filming a movie - if that's what you could call it. Furthermore why this is described as a comedy is beyond me. It is simply not funny and totally depressing and odd! So if you have seen this film listed on Netflix don't bother cause it's awful.

Jesse Eisenberg's first ever major film, Roger Dodger, is a unique coming-of-age story with enough simplicity on the surface and enough complexity beneath it to take the form of an impressively entertaining study of the social interactions between men and women. As writer/director Dylan Kidd's first project and winner of the Best Feature Film Award at the first ever Tribeca Film Festival in 2002, this surprisingly well-done little gem will leave you wondering why it wasn't a bigger commercial success and why Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland, The Social Network) is the only member of its production that you still see in the business on a regular basis. (No discredit to Jesse; if there's anything Roger Dodger does reinforce, it's the fact that he deserves every bit of success that he's achieved)."Sex is everywhere," Roger Swanson, played by the show-stealing Campbell Scott (Dying Young, Big Night), tells his socially lost, 16-year old nephew, Nick (Eisenberg). Nick has traveled alone to New York City in the hopes of convincing his smooth-talking Uncle Roger into teaching him the ways of seduction so that he might end his romantic troubles by finally getting a girl and losing his virginity. While Roger is overwhelmingly cynical, incessantly arrogant, and often brutally forthright (blatantly exemplified by the motto he applies to the advertising business– "You can't sell a product without first making people feel bad"), there is no one who knows the rules of the game better. He solidifies his tactics with an impeccable track record; he takes a woman home "every night".Originally reluctant to open up his one man band to the prospect of apprenticeship, Roger agrees to spread his wisdom to Nick. What follows is a night out in the city that never sleeps in a crash course in charming women. From hilariously ridiculous scenes of the two scouting out women on the streets to unexpectedly profound conversations at a bar, the night proves to be an open examination of these two previously mysterious characters.However, the movie is far from simply a character study. While Scott's and Eisenberg's performances are near-perfect, the execution of the film ensures that its value is not dependent upon the quality of the acting. Behind a simple plot and seemingly simple characters is a noteworthy script that delivers witty, realistic dialogue and intriguing conversations. Free from Hollywood-ized n0nsense and feel-good drivel, the scenes between the two guys and the two women they engage at a bar are perhaps the film's best, showcasing not only Roger's subtle tricks and Nick's charming innocence, but also the natural chemistry between Scott and Eisenberg and the vulnerabilities they both carefully expose with their characters.The chaotic events of the night lead to an ending that, while it strays slightly from the tone of the rest of the movie and perhaps comes a bit too suddenly, is perfectly raw and unexpected. I can't remember being more satisfied with an ending in a good while.All in all, Roger Dodger teaches the common moviegoer that not all good indie flicks have to be about vibrant colors, trendy folk music, and quirky families (Little Miss Sunshine, Juno). And more importantly, this smart man's American Pie (even if that sounds like an oxymoron) proves that not every coming-of-age, cherry-popping comedy (or maybe more dramedy, in this case) has to be sullied with sloppy and overdone high school stereotypes, eye-rolling dialogue, and unlikable characters of both genders.I'm hooked, Jesse. Keep making movies.

This film did start pretty boring and I didn't really understand what the big deal was, apart from the meaning of the title, but as it went on I found what a good film it is. Basically Roger "Roger Dodger" Swanson (Campbell Scott) has lost his lover and job from Joyce (Isabella Rossellini), but he is still and smooth-talking towards friends, and especially women. His evening does change though when he is paid a surprise visit by his nephew Nick (Cursed's Jesse Eisenberg). Hoping to settle, once and for all, the issue of his virginity, Nick begs Roger to school him in the art of seducing women. He takes him to the three possible places to get his chance, an adults bar where he and Roger chat up Andrea (Showgirls' Elizabeth Berkley) and Sophie (Jennifer Beals), a friend's party with drunk guests, and a secret escort place. Nick does not lose his virginity, but when he leaves Roger certainly needs to learn what women, and men, really want. Very good!