Movies

1.11.2002

My First Mister has It, then loses It

BY CHRIS VOGNAR
The Dallas Morning News

Hollywood likes to create and promote a new "It girl" every now and again, a young face to represent the industry's supposed hipness and cutting-edge sex appeal. (Remember Gretchen Mol on the cover of Vanity Fair? Remember Gretchen Mol at all?)

But sometimes an It girl arrives on the scene fully formed and loaded with talent, needing little help from the publicity machinery. And right now, that would be Leelee Sobieski.

The 19-year-old Brown University student has been showing up more often than an info bubble on Pop-up Videos: as an imperiled orphan in The Glass House; as an imperiled road tripper in Joy Ride; and now as a disaffected teen in My First Mister.

The directorial debut of actress Christine Lahti, My First Mister is a nicely observed, well acted tale of mismatched friendship, until it takes a dive for the easy resolutions down the stretch.

Sobieski brings sexy intelligence to the role of Jennifer, a recent high school graduate with a thing for the Goth life -- multiple piercings, purple-tinted hair and horror film make-up. But she also has a sense of humor and a desire to escape the home of her well-meaning but ever-dingy mom (Carol Kane, who long ago turned dingy into her immutable niche).

We learn much about Jennifer through her voice-over, which is actually a disservice to Sobieski: The more we hear her tell us, the less we get to see her character come to life.

But come to life she does, thanks to her friendship with the much older Randall, played by Albert Brooks, a lonely clothing store owner who gives the girl a shot in the stockroom.

It's an unlikely alliance, but the actors make it work: Both characters have soft hearts but hard skin, and they're both uptight in their own distinct ways. They give each other a new perspective on the world without supplanting what made 'em likable in the first place.

My First Mister isn't an Albert Brooks film, but it might still be the best Albert Brooks film in some time. We get the best of Brooks -- the self-deprecating humor, the world-weary acceptance -- without the flat self-indulgence that has marked his recent efforts.

Visiting a Goth cafe with Jennifer, he needs to use the restroom but wants to get the skinny first: "Do they have bathrooms here, or do they just do it on the floor?"

The script, written by Jill Franklyn (who penned the "Yadda Yadda" episode of Seinfeld), gives both performers an arsenal of laugh-out-loud one-liners.

It also builds a believable relationship until about the two-thirds mark. Then it starts to feel like a TV movie, complete with reconciled loved ones, forced self-discovery, and even untimely death. You don't like to see a gutsy film lose the strength of its convictions, but at least it had a certain level of grace to fall from in the first place.

More important, it has Sobieski. She can be cherubic and cold at the same time. She has presence (which still wanes a bit during high-pitch scenes).

And she's not afraid to take on different looks and personalities for different roles: Jennifer's punked-out cynicism is nothing like the easy-going beauty of her Joy Ride character. In short, she might actually be It.

***1/2

My First Mister

Starring : Leelee Sobieski, Albert Brooks, Carol Kane, Desmond Harrington, Michael McKean, John Goodman, Mary Kay Place.

Rated : R, contains sexuality, profanity, adult themes.


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