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Roger Dodger
EMAILPRINTArtisan Entertainment
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 33 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 9 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: Dylan Kidd
Directed by: Dylan Kidd
Release Date:
Theatrical: October 25, 2002
DVD: March 18, 2003
Running Time: 104 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for sexual content and language
Starring Campbell Scott, Jesse Eisenberg, Isabella Rossellini, Elizabeth Berkley, Jennifer Beals, Ben Shenkman, Mina Badie, and Chris Stack
In this coming-of-age tale, a teen boy from the Midwest (Eisenberg) spends a Friday night out on the town in New York City with his womanizing advertising executive uncle (Campbell).
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
It is Scott's work as the savagely articulate Roger, a tireless would-be seducer, bottomlessly self-confident and oblivious to rejection, that is the film's glistening and provocative centerpiece.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Funny, sad, and skeptical in about equal measures, it announces writer-director Dylan Kidd as a filmmaker with a bright future.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
One of the juiciest male characters to pop up in an independent film this year.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Takes both its characters and the audience to the depths, but it's a journey Kidd redeems with wit and fluency and, ultimately, a deeply persistent humanism.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Kidd, a first-time writer and director, has created a sophisticated but intriguingly toxic comedy of manners.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Experiencing this film is like hurtling down a verbal slalom.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Mark Caro
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.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
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.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
A little too programmed in its despair, but it coasts along on the jagged music of the modern lothario's song.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker Anthony Lane
There are times when the movie's entertainment value verges on the scandalous. [4 November 2002, p. 110]
Salon.com Jeff Stark
There's a maddening ambiguity at the core of writer-director Dylan Kidd's remarkably cynical, and bracingly intelligent, debut movie. It's the kind of thing that is just nasty enough to start arguments in cafes and bars.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Hank Sartin
Kidd has a great ear for dialogue, and he throws in a few unexpected twists. But the real fun is watching an established pro and a newcomer run with the script.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine Peter Rainer
The dramatic arc of Roger Dodger may be banal, but Kidd manages some marvelous moments.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
All three performances are excellent, in their different ways.
Dallas Observer Bill Gallo
Rookie writer-director Dylan Kidd, late of NYU film school, knows how to get the best out of jittery, handheld camera shots, and he knows how to go for the jugular. Roger is the bleakest comic portrait of misogynist self-delusion we've seen in a long time.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Campbell Scott's fiendishly mercurial performance as razor-tongued womanizer Roger is a revelation but it's only one of this nimble film's pleasures.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
An unusually smartly written and performed American independent film.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Campbell Scott swings at one of the year's juiciest roles and knocks it out of the park.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
The final third is slower until a somewhat contrived finale that's still the funniest thing in the movie.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
A delight for anyone who loves to absorb dialogue. The movie is almost all talk and no action, and possesses the "feel" (although not the pedigree) of a stage production translated to the screen.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie, written and directed by Dylan Kidd, depends on its dialogue, and like a film by David Mamet or Neil LaBute has characters who use speech like an instrument. The screenplay would be entertaining just to read, as so very few are.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Thanks to Scott's charismatic Roger and Eisenberg's sweet nephew, Roger Dodger is one of the most compelling variations on "In the Company of Men."
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
Flags as it heads toward a moralistic ending, complete with a couple of contrived (albeit charged) sexual encounters, but it's heartening that it soars as long as it does.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
I was with Roger Dodger all the way until its vile hero had an 11th-hour burst of insight that defied all belief. I didn't buy it, but I do want his therapist's phone number.
Variety Ronnie Scheib
fFts into that weird, dialogue-heavy quasi-genre that includes "In the Company of Men" and "The Business of Strangers" where high-stakes sexual power games mix with cutthroat office politics.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Connie Ogle
In the end, Roger Dodger doesn't really add up to much. Guys can be jerks when they're lonely, or even when they're not. It's not news. But Kidd's version of this truth shows he's a writer worth watching.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Starts as a tart little lemon drop of a movie and ends up as a bitter pill. I'm glad to have seen it, for I appreciated Campbell Scott's dominant performance and Jesse Eisenberg's breakthrough. But I hope writer-director Dylan Kidd mixes less acid into the next drink he pours.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
The result is a long night of confrontations that feel heavily rehearsed and unlikely. There are some good moments, but I didn't believe any of this.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
The movie's third act begins a baffling and not-very-believable character turnabout.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Michael Atkinson
First-timer Dylan Kidd's film isn't Molièrian in its misanthropy, but rather as boneheaded as an hour of talk-radio hobgoblin Tom Leikis.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Richard gave it a 10:
I really enjoyed this film. Sure, it doesn't reinvent the male anxiety film wheel, and maybe the final reel's change of heart is slightly left fieldish. None of that changes the sharpness of the dialogue and the wonderful cast that gets to deliver it. The extended scene with Eisenberg, Scott, Beals and Berkley is a joy. Isabella Rossellini especially impresses in a small role. Eisenberg is a real find, and Scott imbues his hostility with an interesting self-awareness. Why that guy isn't a bigger star is beyond me. Well-judged all around and more than worth your time.
Chad S. gave it a 9:
Campbell Scott is so good here, we let it slide when the script gets soft and shows us that Roger actually has a heart of gold. It would've felt tacked on if Scott wasn't so brilliant. He bails Dylan Kidd out, who has a real flair for dialogue, but may have a weakness for happy endings. We'll see what he does next time out. His most impressive accomplishment? Getting career performances out of Elizabeth Berkley and Jennifer Beals. The scene they share with Scott and his nephew at the park is absolutely perfect. Berkley skirts direct-to-video status for at least two more years.
Bronxville FilmFan gave it a 9:
The script is caustic, and hysterical--Dylan Kidd's observations on gender and sexual politics are incredibly provocative and exciting. Hats off, too, to Campbell Scott, who is nothing less than BRILLIANT as the titular character. He deserves every single accolade he gets during awards season, and more!
Mikey G. gave it a 9:
Excellent, excellent flick. Campbell Scott definitely needs to get some award for his performance here. The material might be too edgy for the Oscars, but at least an Independent Spirit Award or something. The movie is bitingly funny and speaks truth in many different ways and levels. Considering the subject matter, it's surprising there's not much nudity. However, the little bit shown is done well and has a purpose. Excellent movie, but don't go see it on a date. You'll never win the arguments that will ensue.
Brewcut gave it a 9:
Very sharp and funny with surprising depth. In a just world, Campbell Scott gets an Oscar (or at least a nom) for bringing heart to an essentially heartless cad. The women are especially smart and grounded characters, and 16 yr old nephew Nick holds out hope for a kinder, gentler style of manhood...but there are a lot of alpha guys like Roger out there. You just don't see them portrayed so honestly in movies.
Michael F. gave it a 10:
EXCELLENT! Funny as hell and smart as a whip! Scott is AMAZING! The direction is brilliant, reminiscent of Cassavetes. I really felt like I was THERE. That's EXACTLY what it feels like to be at a party, exactly! Scott's tricks are brilliant!
Alexander R. gave it a 9:
Surprisingly good. Campbell Scott was fantastic as the bitter, single guy that is out to exploit single women. Eisenberg was relatively weak in the film and somewhat of a mis-cast.
