Roger Dodger

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=80 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="04000500dvldtc.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Reel Movie Critic.com</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reel Movie Critic.com"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="041d2c00dvldtc.png"> <div> <B>Home Pages for</B></div> <div> <B> </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/index.htm"><U><B>Movies</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>      </B><A HREF="http://www.newbookdiscounts.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.newbookdiscounts.com/"><U><B>Books</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>          </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id364.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Travel</B></U></A><B> </B></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>                </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id361.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Great Web Sites</B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> Roger Dodger</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="501" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="495"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="495" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> ***1/2</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:leeshoquist@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:leeshoquist@aol.com"><U><U>Reviewed by Lee Shoquist</U></U></A></div> <bR> <div> We all know someone like him.  He's the kind of person who verbally dominates any conversation; always with a well-founded and often controversial point of view, sledge hammering his arguments home and allowing you no latitude to express yourself.  And the problem is most of the time he's pretty right on.  Such a person is Roger Swanson, the hotshot Manhattan advertising copywriter at the center of a fabulous new American comedy named <I>Roger Dodger</I>.  </div> <bR> <div> I laughed more in writer/director Dylan Kidd's new film than at anything in the pale, would-be hip New York stories of <I>Tadpole</I> and <I>Igby Goes Down</I> combined.  And I felt good about it - they are deep laughs that come from the best place, which is that of a well-written character and his refreshingly politically incorrect yet persuasive diatribes on women, sex and well, women and sex.  </div> <bR> <div> Campbell Scott, in a performance of amazing comic dexterity and darker shadings, is Roger Swanson, bedding his boss (a direct Isabella Rossellini) and a sort of self-styled ladies' man who has turned sexual come-ons and picking up women into an art form of unparalleled precision and detail.  For Roger, the meaning of life is derived from the "angle of incidence" that allows him a direct view up a passing woman's skirt, and the object in life is to avoid coming home late in the evening to "an empty apartment."  </div> <bR> <div> So smooth is his shtick that when he's caught off-guard and dumped by his boss, Roger is taken aback.  It's precisely at that moment that Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) his virginal high-school nephew from Ohio arrives in town, in desperate need of an education with women.  In a comic scene that reaches epic proportions and contains more laughs than any single film this year, Roger gives the naïve Nick a crash-course, street corner lesson in finding the "sex that's all around you."  </div> <bR> <div> Before the long night is over, Roger and Nick will meet two beautiful, witty young women (Elizabeth Berkeley and a radiant Jennifer Beals), crash a wild party given by Roger's boss and end up in an underground sex house.  This episode, occurring late in the film and depicted with a dark, sad intensity gives Nick an up-close glimpse into the extreme and empty world Roger frequents.  </div> <bR> <div> One of the most remarkable strengths of Roger Dodger is how it sets up a familiar comic premise; relatively light<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Symbol" >¾</FONT>albeit sharp, witty and knowing. By the third reel, it turns in such a dark direction that it takes a bit before you realize you're no longer really laughing at Roger's desperate and almost obsessive desire to not only school Nick, but to all out corrupt him as well.  </div> <bR> <div> In many ways, this film echoes the aggressive notes of anything early by Neil LaBute, including <I>In the Company of Men</I> and <I>Your Friends and Neighbors</I>.  Roger would fit quite nicely in LaBute's corrosive, verbally masterful, winner-take-all world.  Certainly LaBute would embrace Roger's darker tendencies - advocating date rape, sexual compulsion and degrading sexual politics.   But unlike LaBute's toxic and savage playboys, Roger really is a nice person underneath, capable of human feeling and change.  </div> <bR> <div> The performances are uniformly excellent, with Campbell Scott giving the best male performance of the year, gracing the film with impeccable comic timing and charisma.  And while <I>Showgirls </I>alum Elizabeth Berkeley acquits herself admirably, her pal Jennifer Beals of <I>Flashdance</I> fame, has some nice moments of warmth and heart with Nick. Jesse Eisenberg makes for a game and charming Nick, knowingly compromising his morals but along for the ride anyway.  Unlike the creeps in <I>Tadpole</I> and <I>Igby Goes Down</I>, he never pretends to have any answers and it's interesting to see him feel his way through what's right and wrong. Isabella Rossellini, who works so infrequently these days, is her usual radiant self.  Her sexually political scenes with Roger are frank and well done.  </div> <bR> <div> I can't emphasize enough how unpredictable this film really is, and how intriguing are the moments when your realize Kidd and company are onto something dark. Culminating in scenes that create a character so far gone, so egocentric and so filled with anger, sexual compulsion and loneliness that it's sobering when Oliver comes face to face with his ferocity.  </div> <div>  </div> <div> There is, however, a severe problem with this film that has nothing to do with its accomplished screenplay and performances.  The film is dramatically underexposed for about 85% of its running time.  Many in the audience were befuddled, and I count myself among them.  I'm not referring to low-key, dramatic movie lighting when I say that the film is improperly lit.  In fact, you can't see a good amount of the actors' best work, most glaring in the subterranean nightclub scenes.  It appears that something has gone wrong with the exposure.  Scene after scene registers so darkly that actors often fall of the scale of what's visible, and we can hear them talking but they're barely able to be seen.  I wish this were a correctable problem with a print, but it's more likely that the low-budget nature of the film didn't lend itself to good lighting, thus rendering much of it nearly invisible.  Still, I can't believe someone didn't speak up during the dailies and demand some re shoots.  </div> <bR> <div> Anyway, I still loved the film for its word play and performances<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Symbol" >¾</FONT>a literate and intelligent film.  </div> <bR> <div> 104 minutes</div> <div> Rated R</div> <div> Nudity, sexuality, profanity</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="621" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> Lee Shoquist © 2002</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <div>  </div> <div>  </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>