Review of Roger Dodger (2002) by Leif Y — 29 Nov 2003

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film festival reviews[/i] | [b]day four.

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for some reason, [b]Prozac Nation[/b] never got a proper release in north america after it's debut at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. yes, 2001! at the moment I hear it'll come out in april next year, but it's been said to come out so many times over the years that there really is no knowing if it'll ever be released. why Miramax just doesn't ship it straight to video is beyond me if they have such little faith in it.

[b]Prozac Nation[/b] is not the greatest film I ever saw, but it's not a bad one either. I quite liked it myself even if it doesn't delve deep into the problem of depression. in it, Christina Ricci plays a young woman whose mother has done everything for her to get into Harvard as a journalism major. while there, after some success she gets writer's block and thus her depression begins which doesn't have just to do with writer's block. i've never been a huge fan of Ricci, but she does a very capable job here even if I wouldn't say it's a stellar performance. Jessica Lange, who plays her mother, did better and had more than a few juicy scenes despite just being a supporting role.

there really isn't a whole lot to say about [b]Prozac Nation[/b]. it's a fairly decent film, despite it's failure to go into the depression problem as deep as it probably could and should. it's certainly not a bad film though, and it deserves a release, whether it's in theaters or on home video.

***½ stars out of five.

[b]Roger Dodger[/b] from last year (but never released here) was far better. i've heard many great things about it, but I have to say it was a lot better than I expected it to be and certainly a whole lot funnier too. some of the things that come out of Roger's mouth are at the same time so preposterous, yet recognizable in some way that it's just so funny. that he's a complete womanizing jerk who truly believes the things he says makes it even funnier.

i've always enjoyed Campbell Scott's work, both as an actor and director and he's really a tour de force in this film even if it may not be a role that hard to play as long as you can talk really fast. he's definitely right on the edge though, showing off how intelligent and sharp, but at the same time ignorant, his character is. his character does have a nice arc too, even if he may still be something of a jerk still when the credits roll. Jesse Eisenberg who plays his nephew is just as good in his part. nervous, shy teenager.. it may be easy to be one, but to play one? good job. the rest of the cast do able work too, although I find it really odd to have Isabella Rosselini (with her swedish/italian accent) play a woman named Joyce though. Joyce's don't have accents like that.

[b]Roger Dodger[/b] is an entertaining film with a fiercly witty and quick screenplay that Campbell Scott just feeds off of. not only did it speak many truths (albeit many times exaggerated truths) but it made me laugh a lot more than I thought I would.. and I mean that in a good way.

**** stars out of five.