October 11–18, 2001

movie shorts

My First Mister

For the first 40 minutes or so, Christine Lahti’s directorial debut is refreshingly sharp and poised. As miserably alienated goth-ish girl Jennifer (known as J), Leelee Sobieski doesn’t come off as a cliché in army boots and facial piercings. Instead, J is a thoughtful, recent high school graduate, frustrated by her clueless mom (Carol Kane) and stepfather (Michael McKean), absent dad (John Goodman), lame retail job, ignorant peers and non-existent sex life, and resigned to cutting herself with safety pins to remind herself what it feels like to feel something. When J meets Randall (Albert Brooks), the uptight manager of a men’s clothing store at the Century City Mall, it looks like theirs will be a pleasantly unusual relationship: they share fears, hopes and sexual desire. (She even takes to calling him "R.") But after a few scenes (where he almost gets a tattoo and she almost gets laid), My First Mister backs off from this odd pairing and resorts to full-blown melodrama, complete with terminal illness and quirky familial reconciliations. Until then, however, Sobieski again shows off her chops, and Brooks gives what may be his least mannered, most ironic performance since Taxi Driver.

—Cindy Fuchs

(Bryn Mawr; Ritz East; Ritz 16)