Review of Roger Dodger (2002) by Danny M — 29 Dec 2009

To me, it's about the ingrained, pop image of manhood--sex-crazed, always pursuing the next conquest. Roger, an ad copywriter, is the perfect spokesman, articulate, reasoned, with deeply scripted rationales to explain everything (he delights in enlightening women on why they are feeling, acting, worrying the way they do--the analyst).

By contrast, Roger's nephew, Nick, is a clueless, 16 year-old, in town to visit Columbia University--clueless about women, at least. And that's just why he's here, to learn about the ladies, and frankly to loose his virginity.

But he is neither so naive or as coolly premeditated as this implies. In fact, he is everything that Roger is not, honest, sincere, descent, caring--a bright and endearingly sweet kid, who's battling his raging hormones. Even the call girls they encounter in their night on the town are struck by the difference--Roger, the hardened con artist, and Nick the real "gentleman" who can't conceal his natural goodness, even as he tries to play Roger's game.

The game is tough, and so is the talk, at times--hence the R rating. But it's never truly raunchy, just pretty "adult." (You'll know in the first ten minutes if this is the movie for you).

The best news is that this "coming of age"/cautionary tale is never preachy. It just let's the facts speak, let's the characters tell the story, make the point. And it is very funny, doesn't take itself too seriously, nor let the action get too heavy.

Well acted, deeply thoughtful. The Christian Science Monitor's Dave Sterritt gave it a top, four-star rating in 2002, and the current Monitor critic Peter Ranier, called it "Fascinating. Shockingly funny" (writing then for New York Magazine).