Movies for Your Pleasure: Roger Dodger and Secretary

By Lauren Isaacson

Hi, my name is Lauren and I am an indie film junkie. I’m am not seeking help for my addiction, I am simply willing to acknowledge the fact that I have issues involving visual entertainment. Blockbuster has been my willing supplier, and Robert Redford and his Sundance hippie friends who are on the cusp of selling out are at least one of the many producers of my heroine.

Let me take the time to justify the existence of this column. I have a soft spot in my heart for the underdog, the person who triumphs against tremendous odds. People who produce (and I mean that in the grand sense of the word, not the occupation) independent films are always underdogs, so therefore they attract my sympathy. Now, when they can create original, quality entertainment in spite of these odds, then they garner my admiration.

It is because of this mix of sympathy and admiration, that I have taken it upon myself to raise the banner for these little publicized films and bring them to the attention of those who may appreciate them - you, my readers.
This is my first installment of what I hope will be just like Roxy Music.

Rodger Dodger

This movie was actually recommended to me by an ex-boyfriend who was also into independent film. He predicted that it would be nominated for Academy Award for best original screenplay. Well, he may not be Miss Cleo, but in this instance, I wish he had been right. I wish this because then I would know that there is one movie on that nomination list that could honestly be said to have some truly intriguing dialogue and plot line.

Rodger (Campbell Scott) is smart, perceptive, sexy, and …… pathetic. He was having an affair with his boss (Isabella Rossellini), who dumps him with little remorse. In response he goes to a nearby bar and tries to get laid, but only ends up offending every woman he tries to hit on. Rodger is a man denying his broken heart.

Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) is nervous, naïve, and at 16 is curious about sex and eager to grow up. He has come to New York to have Rodger teach him the ways of the mating game, at the same time that his mentor-to-be is hitting his low point.

After going to a bar, getting kicked out of the bar, chatting up potential targets in the park, getting ditched by the potential targets in the park, crashing Rodger’s ex’s party, getting kicked out of Rodger’s ex’s party, and spiraling down to a brothel; you come to the obvious conclusion that Nick is the more mature of the two and if he plays his cards right will become infinitely more successful.

For the special features, the writer/director, Dylan Kidd, gives the viewer a rare inside look into the actual process of making the film. He interviews the creators of the musical score, the producers, himself as the director, the casting director, the script supervisor, the art director, the production designer, and everyone working behind the camera. If he could have interviewed the caterer, I’m sure he would have. But, I applaud his effort. The interviews were a heck of a lot more insightful than what you usually get in the bonus features.

This is a great film when you’re looking for something lively and interesting. Don’t rent it if you just want to zone out in front of the TV (that’s what “Bourne Identity” is for). Pay attention and you will like it as much as I did. Maybe more.

And just like Roxy Music, this was for your pleasure.

One of my favorite themes in film is messed up people doing messed up things. Now tell me, what could fit that description more than a secretary who has a sadomasochistic relationship with her boss?

Secretary

Okay, so maybe I’m using the term “relationship” rather loosely, but for this particular film (taken out of the context of real life) it works.
Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a little girl in a woman’s body who doesn’t know how to deal with adult problems. She just got out of a mental institution under the pretense that she has been cured of a nasty tendency towards self-mutilation. But, when she witnesses her father’s recess into alcoholism, she goes right back to cutting herself.
Well, she may be a little girl on the inside (with a few nicks here and there), but she still needs to become a contributing member of society. So she goes to secretarial school and gets a job as a legal secretary to a lawyer who seems to go through receptionists faster than a SARS patient goes through Nyquil.

The lawyer, Mr. Grey (James Spader), is a demanding boss who keeps himself collected, controlled and distant. The only moments of tenderness you see him display are with his prized orchids and no-kill mousetraps, but you can’t help but notice the attraction between the employee and employer.

After Mr. Grey spies Lee on a date, jealousy ensues and his display of dominance over her becomes brutal. Eventually, even uber-collected Mr. Grey cannot control himself and the line is crossed and their S and M relationship begins.

This movie was okay. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. I was expecting it to be sexy, which it was. I was expecting it to be funny, which it was – sometimes. But I also expected it to be smart. It may have been clever (visually), but it wasn’t very smart. I think I would have been satisfied if there was more of an exploration as to why this relationship works, rather than just relying on the fact that one character needs to be hurt physically while the other needs to feel control. There has to more to their love than such a basic symbiosis, which can be experienced by lesser forms of life daily.

And unlike Roxy Music, this was for your apathy.