Roger Dodger (2002)

Directed by: Dylan Kidd
Starring: Campbell Scott

***

Dylan Kidd doesn't have much of a resume behind the camera and I really think it shows not through an inability to make a movie but in that he tried too hard to be stylistic with Roger Dodger. Its a very good story, with smart, sharp and controversial dialogue that of itself could have and would have made a better movie than what Kidd came up with with his hidden camera angles, unprovoked closeups and blurred vision type of look.

I tried to convince myself at one point, as I was watching Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) nervously interact with some women in a restaurant as the camera looked through a nearby plant, that there was a reason for this shot. That Nick was hiding from society thanks to his lack of understanding of women. That didn't make sense though and after a few efforts to convince myself that Kidd had a method, I eventually gave up and credited Kidd as an amateur filmmaker trying to define himself, despite what it does to the movie. This is a frustrating and common mistake made by rookie filmmakers. Style over story is the sign of someone who isn't confident in their story.... something about which Kidd should not have been concerned.

Roger Swanson (Campbell Scott) is a smart, handsome, witty, controversial bachelor in New York City. His charm is entertaining but hardly self-satisfying. It gets him attention, but not the kind of sustained attention and care that he pretends he doesn't need but under the surface, really longs for. His relationships are those meaningless, short term, sleeping with his boss type and not any type that matters like those with his sister whom he has not spoken to for some time or her son and his nephew Nick, who pays him a surprise visit with hopes of learning Roger's "successful" ways with women.

Roger takes Nick on a journey through New York's clubs, bars and parties that is unorthodox, unethical and ultimately unsuccessful thanks to Nick and Roger's conflicting morals. Nick maintains the school of thought that respecting a woman and being open and honest is the key to success and love. Roger would dispute this if he knew what love was. Instead, he preaches coersion and dishonest... anything to drive a conversation and a relationship towards sex. He is unforgiving when Nick fails to close the deal with a women sympathized with Nick's situation but would never have slept with him since she was much older. Roger moves immediately to plan B and after that, onto the fail safe. Nothing seems to work for one reason of another but Nick's evening with Roger may have taught him more than he realized, not just about women but about survival of the fittess and taking what's available, using resources and taking control of your situation.

Campbell Scott and Jesse Eisenberg play their respective parts perfectly. Since Adventureland and The Squid and the Whale, there's little doubt about who plays the best late teen, early twenties nervous virgin and that's Eisenberg. He's so confiendent in the way he plays a nervous kid that I'm sure if I was a woman and ran into him, he wouldn't know what to say. Scott is arrogant and cocky. Everything about him, from the things he says to the way he walks and even sits at the bar speak to his character. The contrasting characterizations in this film are what make it work. Its not the unique, pointless style that Kidd uses. Its his script and the way his actors play it out. Roger is hardly ever likable throughout this film, but even at his worst moments, there is either sadness about him that can be sympathized with or we recognize that he has good intentions. His teaching methods may not be appropriate but they are what he knows. He accepts his nephew showing up randomly and he takes him under his wing the only way he knows how.

The dialogue in Roger Dodger is, quick, smart and occasionally shows a hint of humor. The way Roger talks compliments the way he behaves. Its why this character works where characters like Juno don't. Ellen Page talks like no one else does but is still just an ordinary high schooler dealing with high school problems. Roger is consistent. Nick is presented with an opportunity to talk to the best looking girl in his high school at the end of Roger Dodger but despite all he's learned, he's not all of a sudden Casanova. He hesitates, he's still nervous and his character remains consistant. He may be wiser, but he's still the same person. These points aren't to suggest that there's no character change in this film because there is. Its internal however. Its not necessarily something we'd see happen.

Its clear while watching this film that Dylan Kidd knows how to structure a script. He knows how to create characters and he knows how to find the right actors to play them out. If only he knew how to make a movie, I think Roger Dodger would be a great, great movie. Instead, its slightly above average.