Tough Decision

So this is going to be my first "official" online review of a film. I've rated countless movies on Netflix and commented on some of my friends reviews of movies they've seen on Facebook but I've never actually published a review on a website.

Now the dilemma begins, what movie do I choose as my film review debut? Do I choose a movie that everyone has already seen and myself considered the best film of recent years (The Dark Knight)? Or do I choose a film where I had relatively high expectations and was completely disappointed (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). Or do I pick from any number of films I feel haven't received the spotlight and attention they deserve and attempt to praise them to a level where you will run to the video store asking the teenage pimple-faced kid if they have this obscure film they've probably never heard of? Because I'm an advocate of going out and stimulating our nation's economy I'll start my first review with the latter because more than likely you have all seen the summer's blockbusters and therefore my point would be moot.

Now finally the moment you have all been waiting for; my first review.

If anything can be said about the '00 decade, it would be that this past decade was all about the average joe, the girl or guy next door, the "loser" if you will. We've seen this exemplified in such films like Knocked Up, Juno and Superbad. Even television has seen the potential in the everyday bandwagon with reality tv like Average Joe, Beauty and the Geek and the popular sitcom Ugly Betty. You could almost say that average is the new attractive.

I applaud this new direction in Hollywood and it appears that the moviegoing crowd does too. All three films I mentioned did at least $120 million domestically. Those are astounding figures considering there wasn't a single Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt or Julia Roberts in any of those films. As entertaining as those big box-office draws are, there is something so affable and down-to-earth about actors like Michael Cera, Seth Rogen and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (you may know him better as McLovin). And again, you can't help but to be drawn to the charm and cutesyness of actresses Ellen Page and America Ferrera. But just as importantly the writers of these brilliant comedies created characters that made you feel for them like they were someone you intimately knew or wanted to know.

Dylan Kidd, the Writer/Director of Roger Dodger does just that with the character of Nick portrayed by Jessie Eisenberg. A role that if the movie had been made today, I could have imagined Michael Cera easily stepping into these shoes. Jessie Eisenberg plays the nervous and naive teen so naturally you wonder if he's that awkward in real life. And Campbell Scott, in one of his finest performances ever, plays Jessie's antagonist Roger to devilish perfection. The two characters combined take on the classic... well to take a line from Roger in the film, "good cop, bad cop" roles.

By hopefully not giving too much away, Roger Dodger is about an almost overly insightful and observative advertising agent named Roger who just gets dumped and rudely discarded by his boss fiendishly played by Isabella Rossellini. Just at this untimely moment, his nephew Nick whom he doesn't seem very close to, comes to New York to visit and seeks to learn everything about women his uncle knows. Which is a lot and not very much at the same time. This is pretty much it, a simple yet clever introduction to a mentor and his student. A coming of age tale if you will, only in a gritty and a somewhat crash-course kind of way.

You really have to admire the fact that this was Dylan Kidd's first foray into filmmaking and the smart, almost philosophical dialogue and witty banter that he creates between Roger and Nick is at times mesmerizing. It definitely mesmerizes two women they meet later on in the film, enough to get Nick some "experience" if you will. It is during these times where you are secretly cheering on the "average" guy and hoping that even though he doesn't look like Paul Walker, this dog gets his day.

Roger Dodger, in my opinion easily falls into the vein of films like Garden State, and Juno, where the main character(s) are your everyday joes and you feel for them cause they are like you or similar to someone like you. And you feel their angst, their frustrations, their fear. But ultimately in the end when you've gone through it all, just like them, you feel a certain sense of accomplishment and a pretty kick ass ride to boot.

I'm a little verklempt, talk amongst yourselves...
Taek