Roger Dodger

2002 Comedy Drama

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. more..

Director: Dylan Kidd

Starring: Campbell Scott, Jesse Eisenberg,Isabella Rossellini, Elizabeth Berkley, Jennifer Beals

Reviews

  • Funny, sad, and skeptical in about equal measures, it announces writer-director Dylan Kidd as a filmmaker with a bright future.

    David Sterritt - Christian Science Monitor

    27 April 2013

  • Mines laughs from the ways in which its antihero's reductive philosophy consistently goes kerflooey in his face, but there's a weary sadness to it as well.

    Ty Burr - The Boston Globe

    27 April 2013

  • Revives the art of smart, scathing movie conversation as it skewers Manhattan's singles scene while providing a goodly number of laughs. Like its subject, the movie may have its prickly moments, but it's awfully fun to watch.

    Mark Caro - The Chicago Tribune

    27 April 2013

  • A little too programmed in its despair, but it coasts along on the jagged music of the modern lothario's song.

    Owen Gleiberman - Entertainment Weekly

    27 April 2013

  • All three performances are excellent, in their different ways.

    Joe Morgenstern - The Wall Street Journal

    27 April 2013

Awards

  • Most Promising Director

    Chicago Film Critics Association Awards (2003)

  • Dylan Kidd

    Gotham Awards (2003)

     
  • Best First Feature

    Independent Spirit Awards (2003)

     
  • Best Actor

    National Board of Review (2002)

  • Best First Film

    New York Film Critics Circle Awards (2002)