Themes: Unlikely Friendships, Generation Gap, Class Differences
Main Cast: Albert Brooks, Leelee Sobieski, Desmond Harrington, Carol Kane, Mary Kay Place
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 109 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A first feature from acclaimed actress Christine Lahti (who won an Academy Award for her short film Lieberman in Love in 1995), My First Mister explores the delicate relationship between two unlikely individuals who bring each other out of their protective shells. Jennifer (Leelee Sobieski), the film's narrator, is a Goth-obsessed, tattooed 17-year old who absorbs herself in death-laden music and poetry. Just graduating from school and immersed in a dysfunctional relationship with her out-there mother (Carol Kane), she finds a job at a local clothing store as a clerk. Her boss, Randall Harris (Albert Brooks), is a rigid, middle-aged type, who becomes uncomfortable when Jennifer begins to spy on him and follow his moves. She then cleans up her act a bit and lands a position as a stockperson, and Randall begins to take an interest in her. After a few outings where they attempt to relate their lives to each other, they begin to become close friends, effectively building confidence and bridging their considerable age gap. Also included in the cast are Desmond Harrington, Mary Kay Place, and John Goodman as Jennifer's hippie father. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
Review
A remarkable film that works its emotional hooks into an audience with a gradual, assured patience that is astonishing coming from a debut feature filmmaker, this comedy drama is smart, truthful, and (most importantly) genuinely funny. Despite material that is likely to be considered "slight" in the era of commonplace 100-million-dollar-plus productions, director Christine Lahti's film, particularly coming on the heels of her Oscar win for the short subject Lieberman in Love (1995), places her in the ranks of such other performers-turned-directors as Woody Allen and Clint Eastwood. The script, by former Seinfeld writer Jill Franklyn, is a sharp, sympathetic examination of two people smart enough to immediately have each other's number, as well as to know that their reclusive tendencies are unhealthy, even in the face of a mutual unwillingness to change. In that sense, the film bears similarities to As Good As It Gets (1997), a project sure to exceed this one in terms of awards, critical acclaim, and audience attention. That's because, in place of a romantic pas de deux between Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt, the filmmakers offer up a wistful, didactic friendship between a 49-year-old man and a 17-year-old goth chick. That those roles are filled by actors as iconoclastic as Albert Brooks, who rarely acts in anything stupid and so rarely acts, and Leelee Sobieski, a teen who must turn down scores of teen films but has played Joan of Arc, is further indication that mainstream audiences won't find much paint-by-numbers emotional clarity here. The central relationship in the film never becomes sexual, but sexuality is a factor that's not ignored; the characters never quite figure out what exactly it is that attracts them to each other, although there are obvious similarities of temperament and taste that are not immediately apparent on the surface. What My First Mister (2001) does offer is psychological depth, a sense of playfulness about life's frustrations and ambiguities, and challenging questions about the nature of relationships in lieu of pat, reassuring platitudes. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Jennifer (Sobieski), a 17-year-old mall rat, takes a shine to the 49-year-old manager of a Los Angeles clothing store Randall Harris (Brooks), who also notices her. In an unlikely move, he gives her a job as a stockroom clerk, but she finds her way into the front of the store and begins to interact with - and sell clothes to - customers.
As the two strike up an unlikely friendship, they realize that neither have any close friends with whom they can talk. They nickname each other "J" and "R." They spend time together, and Randall helps Jennifer get an apartment of her own by giving her an advance on her salary. He buys her a dress for work. While he can't go through with getting a tattoo, he does go with her to a cemetery to lie on graves and feel the energy of the deceased - something she does regularly.
After Randall collapses in the street after taking a walk, Jennifer discovers he has a terminal disease, leukemia, and doesn't have long to live. While collecting his personal belongings for him at his home, she discovers the address of his ex-wife. While trying to contact her in Albuquerque, New Mexico, she finds she had died six months earlier, and she meets his son, a deeply cynical young man who believed his father had died before he was born. Jennifer convinces him to come back to see him before Randall dies. Because of Jennifer, they have a brief time to get to know one another.
Her friendship with Randall inspires her to seek a more friendly relationship with her mother, father and stepfather. In Randall's final days, Jennifer puts on a dinner for him, in which his son, and Jennifer's parents and stepfather come together to celebrate his life.
This movie wasn't the first time Michael McKean and Christine Lahti had worked together. They were in rehearsals for a partly-improvised comedy film titled "Kiss the Bride." The project never came to the silver screen. It would have been directed by Bob Balaban.
Leelee Sobieski's character, Jennifer, has a number of facial piercings, and cartilage piercings in both ears, but does not have her earlobes pierced—to which a reference is made in the movie. At the time the movie was made, Sobieski herself did not have pierced earlobes, as she did not have them done until 2006. Specially for her part in this movie, she did, however, have both nostrils, both eyebrows and her lower lip pierced, along with the cartilage of both ears. After filming was completed, she removed the piercings and allowed them to close up again, but kept the jewelry as a souvenir of the movie.
Commentary and reviews
In DVD commentary director Christine Lahti applauds the work of the cast and crew, remarking "[I] was very lucky to have such a wonderful crew..." During casting she was very impressed with Albert Brooks' passion for the role. When Sobieski was mentioned for the part "J", Lahti was skeptical that "...such a beautiful face" would capture the feeling and look of isolation that was needed for the character, but she changed her mind when she took the opportunity to meet Sobieski for the role. She did feel regret that the film was rated R, for language, despairing that the movie might not be viewed by teenagers who would like and relate with the characters. Also, Lahti mentioned several times that she would have liked to have more time to shoot different perspectives in order to facilitate story arc.
