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 In
Roger Dodger, a fascinating, uneven first feature from the
young writer-director Dylan Kidd, Campbell Scott (pictured, right,
with Mina Badie) plays a cynical, womanizing adman with such brittle
intensity that you half expect him to shatter before your eyes.
Roger is so on that in his rare moments of repose, when he isn't
dodging something or someone, he's practically diaphanous—he
becomes his own hologram. Scott has always been a powerfully contained
screen presence, but this is the first time he's opened up all the
hatches. He's in the movie almost continually, and yet he's never
tiresome because he keeps wringing new variations on Roger's ghastly
self-absorption.
The movie takes place in Manhattan over 24 hours. Roger has just
been dumped by his current conquest (Isabella Rossellini), who also
happens to be his boss. (What really riles Roger is not that she
dumped him but that she has him figured out.) Nick (Jesse Eisenberg),
his 16-year-old nephew from Ohio, shows up unexpectedly at his office.
He is supposedly in town to look at colleges, but his real mission
is to learn the ropes from his ladies'-man uncle, and Roger is fanatically
obliging. He's like a drill sergeant in heat.
Kidd keeps Roger and Nick in constant flux; whether they are in
the car-jammed streets or a low-lit singles bar, the camera always
seems to be eavesdropping on them. The effect is like watching jittery
surveillance footage, and it's annoying. Probably, Kidd thought
that a rock-steady approach would draw undue attention to what is
essentially a two-character piece, but with performances like these,
he needn't have worried.
A larger cause for concern is Kidd's overfondness for pat storytelling
and wet epiphanies about male vanity. The movie is framed as a duet
between Roger's smart-ass "wisdom" and Nick's naïveté. In the course
of a long night's journey into day, the teacher becomes the pupil.
Roger is shown to be the true naïf, while Nick is wise beyond his
years. (He actually respects women.) This is way too schematic and
diminishes what is shockingly funny about the movie. Kidd's compulsion
to give Roger his comeuppance neutralizes what we most relish about
him -- his scurviness. Roger is fond of saying that advertising
makes people feel bad about themselves so they'll buy products they
don't need; in the same way, his adman tactics with women are all
centered on the put-down. He's a flagrant version of a familiar
urban species: the bachelor executive who equates male-female relations
with "closing the deal." Does he really need to be brought down
low so that we might see through him? (As if we don't anyway.) Kidd
may think it's his civic duty to condemn Roger, but that's not where
his truest instincts lie. His movie is most fully alive when Roger
is bristling with battle plans.
The dramatic arc of Roger Dodger may be banal, but Kidd
manages some marvelous moments. Best is a scene in a singles bar
where Roger encourages two ladies to talk to Nick and, basically,
get him laid. Sophie (Jennifer Beals) and Andrea (Elizabeth Berkley)
know full well that Roger is a heat-seeking missile -- they're as
wised up as he is -- and yet they're genuinely affected by the boy.
His innate sweetness transforms them into erotic caregivers, and
they are tremendously flattered to be present at his sexual initiation,
even if it's just a kiss. Roger wouldn't be such an effective cad
if Nick weren't so impeccably selfless. The boy's virtue is the
perfect counterpoint to Roger's nastiest arias. Innocence may not
hold a candle to corruption here, but in his own free-form way,
Eisenberg holds his own with the tight-wound Scott. In the underworld
of this movie, his Nick has a gleam of decency. (1 hr. 45 mins.;
R) — PETER RAINER
Opens October 25
• Showtimes
& tickets (movietickets.com)
Spolight: Jesse Eisenberg
Slumped in a booth at Johnny Rockets, Jesse Eisenberg, the Woody
Allen–ish 19-year-old star of Dylan Kidd's Roger Dodger,
is bemoaning his inexperience with girls. "I've only been on one
date," he says, befitting an actor who plays a virgin who comes
to Manhattan to do more than just learn about sex. "I didn't even
know it was a date, either. I didn't find out until her mom told
me it was." (He might have considered a workplace romance: The film
co-stars Elizabeth Berkley and Jennifer Beals.) Professionally,
though, Eisenberg needs no coaching. His next film is the anticipated
The Emperor's Club, in which he plays opposite Kevin Kline.
"Kevin comes into a film with such stature -- there was a lot of
pressure. I just didn't want to screw up," he says, before the conversation
turns back to women. "I went to this party last night and this girl
wanted to dance, but I didn't do it. I guess I'm still shy, even
after this film."
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