Roger is the sort of guy who is charming, self-assured, and bright. So, how come he can't see he acts like such a jerk? Like the court jester who is kept around as long he keeps everybody amused, Roger issues sharp monologues predicting the future of sexual relationships to co-workers, but his bleak view leaves a bitter taste after the laughter ends.

He's been having a fling with his boss, Joyce (Isabella Rossilini), twenty years his senior and CEO of the ad agency where he works. By day, he gets paid for thinking up ways to convince people to feel bad about themselves. He knows what works in advertising. He's refined the skill, and adapted it to the art of scoring. With a predator's cunning and a more than healthy dose of cynicism, he sees women as applicants for potential prizes in a game of sexual supermarket sweepstakes. When Joyce moves on to someone else for her afternoon delight Roger is stunned, then angry to find out he's not her boy any more.

His sixteen year-old nephew, Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) shows up in his New York office, while on a college planning excursion to Columbia University, and asking Uncle Roger for a few pointers on success with the ladies. Roger takes him on a one-night "sexcursion," illustrating his state-of-the-art strategies in scoring. First crack is at a trendy watering hole where they hook up with beautiful Andrea and Sophie (Elizabeth Berkley and Jennifer Beals), who themselves show signs of being a little emotionally shopworn around the edges by the end of the evening. They immediately see through Roger but are taken by the sweet innocence of Nick in his little ear-flap hat. Undaunted, Roger doesn't look back and the night wears on, through several other stops as he guides his nephew toward his goal.

Along the way, Roger reveals a hefty capacity for the scotch, beer, or champagne always at hand. He peppers his lessons to Nick with questions and caustic remarks about his estranged, alcoholic father and resentment over his recently deceased mother. The nocturnal decent into hell gets ever more desperate and degenerate ending in a foggy morning-after back at Roger's apartment. He has lost more than the youthful awe of Nick along the way.

It turns out Nick is not half the man his Uncle Roger is. In fact, he is probably twice the man Roger will ever be, but the future is far from certain. Nick's trip to New York was not exactly the college visit he represented. Roger deposits Nick back home to his sister and the reality of the likelihood of continuing family patterns is evident. First time director Dylan Kidd scores a hit with his own screenplay and Scott Campbell is dead on target as Roger. Kidd uses a close-up camera to highlight the claustrophobic, pressurized space Roger occupies. The fine cast all deliver subtle, first-rate performances in this keenly observed account of seduction fields of urban America.

Campbell Scott: Roger	Jesse Eisenberg: Nick
Elizabeth Berkley: Andrea	Isabella Rossellini: Joyce
Director: Dylan Kidd	Jennifer Beals: Sophie