By Mark Burger
Winston-Salem Journal Arts Reporter

This page is hosted by JournalNow.com, Web site of the Winston-Salem Journal. This story was originally published Thursday, April 24, 2003.

Filmmaker Bobby Roth has rarely hesitated to use his own life as the basis for his films.

Several of his movies - his 1978 debut The Boss' Son to Heartbreakers (1984), Jack the Dog (2001) and now Manhood - either directly or indirectly reflect his own experiences.

Jack the Dog, Roth said, "was an outlet for a lot of the emotions about my divorce." It starred Nestor Carbonell in the title role, that of an irresponsible, womanizing cad who learns to face up to his responsibilities as an adult and as a parent when his wife (Barbara Williams) leaves him.

The character of Jack is based on Roth himself, and "he really is a dog," Roth said, laughing. "Nestor plays him as wonderfully terrible, but I'm just terrible. He's also a lot better-looking than I am."

Manhood, which will have its Southeastern premiere at the RiverRun International Film Festival tonight, deals with the turbulent break-up of Roth's sister and brother-in-law.

It began as a sequel of sorts to Roth's comedy/drama Heartbreakers, which starred Peter Coyote and Nick Mancuso as best friends at a crossroads in their lives.

But, Roth said, "I never really dealt with my sister's tragedy, and I thought this might be an interesting exercise to sort of exorcise it- to take the man you hate the most in the world and make a buddy movie in which you and he are the buddies."

Carbonell reprises his role as Jack, with John Ritter as brother-in-law Eli and Janeane Garofalo as sister Jill. When they separate, Jack not only finds himself playing referee between them - but also putting up their son, Charlie (Nick Roth).

Nick is the filmmaker's son - in essence playing his own cousin.

Roth was one of the first filmmakers to make a splash with made-for-cable movies.

He scored back-to-back hits for HBO in 1988 with Dead Solid Perfect and Baja Oklahoma, the latter of which introduced a teen-age ingenue named Julia Roberts.

Roberts hadn't done a film before, and Roth recalled that she was cast, more or less, on faith. "Good thing I did," he said, laughing. "Can you imagine - 'I turned down Julia Roberts!' It sounds like a tabloid headline."

Roth has also directed episodes of Miami Vice, Beverly Hills 90210, Dr. Quinn - Medicine Woman and, more recently, John Doe and Hack. His TV films include Dancing at the Harvest Moon (2002) and Judgment Day: The John List Story (1993), in which Robert Blake played a man accused of murdering his wife.

Although nearly 15 years have passed since the events depicted in Manhood, Roth said that it was very difficult to revisit them, even within the dramatic context he had created.

"It's hard for me to watch, because it's so emotionally close," he said quietly. "(But) I think it's an honest movie."