Roger Dodger

Colour, 35 mm
USA, 2002, 106 min
Section: Horizons - Awarded films

Synopsis

Thirty-year-old Robert is incontestably a man of the world. He makes a living writing advertising text and his experiences at work have undoubtedly aided him in a private life focused exclusively on women. As a young bachelor he spends ample time in bars and night clubs looking for prey, and he even hooked up for a short time with his boss Joyce. But of course the self-confident womaniser doesn’t always get lucky, though he hides the fact from his 16-year-old nephew Nick. The latter has just come for an unexpected visit to New York to get a look at the big apple, but primarily to lose his virginity. It seems that the young man couldn’t have found a better tutor.... Debuting writer-director Dylan Kidd squeezes his lightly sketched story, built primarily upon lengthy dialogues, into just two nights. The film, whose documentary style captures the bars, businesses and streets of New York, is heavily dependent for its success on Campbell Scott’s convincing portrayal (America’s National Board of Review Award for Best Actor). Supporting roles were taken by several well-knowns: Isabella Rossellini, Jennifer Beals and Elizabeth Berkeley, and by the talented newcomer Jessie Eisenberg.

About the director

Dylan Kidd (b. 1969, Massachusetts) graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He gained attention with the short Ian’s Ghost (1997), awarded at domestic festivals. With actor Campbell Scott’s help, he was able to realize his writer-director feature debut Roger Dodger (2002), which took the Luigi De Laurentiis Award at the best feature debut (tied with the film Two Friends), the FIPRESCI Prize and the FICC Don Quixote Award at the 2002 Venice IFF, and, as well as Best Actor for Campbell Scott from America’s National Board of Review, and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for debut cameraman Joaquín Baca-Asay. Dylan Kidd has also shot commercials and TV movies.