My First Mister Review
by David N. Butterworth (dnb AT dca DOT net)October 23rd, 2001
MY FIRST MISTER
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2001 David N. Butterworth
***1/2 (out of ****)
"My First Mister" may be a notable first Although it continues the disturbing Hollywood trend of an older man paired with a much younger woman (see Woody Allen's "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion" for the latest and probably most extreme example), for perhaps the first time this uncomfortable union doesn't produce a loud, vulgar gagging sound from the back of one's throat.
In Christine Lahti's feature directing debut, Albert Brooks ("Broadcast News," "Defending Your Life") and Leelee Sobieski ("The Glass House," "Joy Ride") play polar opposites separated by gender and some 30 odd years (with odd being the operative word). Randall (aka R) is an uptight, anal-retentive 49-year-old who owns an uppity men's clothing store. Jennifer (aka J) is an angry, brooding 17-year-old with a penchant for piercing and Goth garb. Together they make beautiful music.
Well, not exactly. "My First Mister" is a lot of things but sleazy isn't one of them. In fact, it sidesteps the whole sexual debate and instead presents the notion that two loners from different ends of the psycho-social spectrum might develop a genuine friendship. In a lot of ways the central relationship in the film is not unlike the relationship between Edith and Seymour in the equally affecting "Ghost World"--she wears combat boots and dyes her hair jet back and he's got his emotions filed away with his record albums.
Lahti's film wastes no time in getting inside the head of Jennifer, and it's a terrifyingly sad existence. J lives with her distracted mother (a subdued Carol Kane) and her ineffectual stepfather (a subdued Michael McKean) and nobody understands her. While hanging out at the Century City Mall, J observes Randall window dressing and is amused enough by his antics to venture into the store and ask the slightly-overweight middle-aged manager--whom she later dubs R--for a job. R reluctantly takes her on (with a few caveats) and soon they begin to share experiences and tastes, from music to tattoos, clothes to graveyards.
Whereas the film takes a "Terms of Endearment" turn towards melodrama in its final third, the characters Brooks and Sobieski have so expertly realized keep the film on an even keel. Even the creaky appearance of a family member from R's past (played by Desmond Harrington, who's so stiff and awkward he must be a friend of the director's), doesn't distract from the overall feel of this movie: it's solid and likable and very moving. The writing, too (by Jill Franklyn), is tight and credible and even though Lahti (better known for her acting abilities; she was in "Who's Life is it Anyway?" and "Housekeeping" and had several seasons as Dr. Kate Austin on TV's "Chicago Hope") makes some obvious rookie blunders, she focuses her camera and attentions almost exclusively on the veteran Brooks and the up-and-comer Sobieski.
And "My First Mister" is all the better for it.
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David N. Butterworth
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