My First Mister

Released 2001
Stars Albert Brooks, LeeLee Sobieski, Desmond Harrington, Carol Kane, Mary Kay Place, Michael McKean
Directed by Christine Lahti

Jennifer (Sobieski) is a 17-year old goth obsessed teenager with multiple face piercings, a love of eulogies, and a desire to spend most of her time in graveyards. Randall (Brooks) is middle-age, uptight salesman at a conservative clothing store who lives in fear of everything and is neat as a pin. While searching for a job at the local mall, Jennifer spots Randall at work and is reluctantly given the chance as the store's stock room girl. Though neither have anything in common, to their mutual amazement Jennifer and Randall quickly strike up a friendship that blossoms into a complex array of feelings for both parties. With a place to escape from her happily deranged mother (Carol Kane) and vacant stepfather (Michael McKean), Jennifer finds that she wants to shake up Randall's world just as much as he wants to quiet hers. As these two oddities begin a relationship of truth and discovery, a secret from Randall's past will be an ultimate test for two people who have come to care for each other in a way neither thought was possible.

Summary by Patrick Naugle

During the first hour of this movie, I was wondering which other movie was going to have to be bumped from my list of favorites. It was that good. I was enchanted by the relationship and the issues surrounding it. J, played by LeeLee Sobieski who looks and sounds like a young Helen Hunt, was a lost soul. She was unsure of her sexuality, she had no friends, she hated her family, and she had no love for life. When she met the anal-retentive Randall (Albert Brooks), she decided to remove the "silverware from her face" in order to get the job. I think she took that drastic step, because she was drawn to more than just a job. She was drawn to Randall, who was a dignified man who treated her with respect and dignity, which was something no one had done before. Randall, on the other hand, saw a person in need of help, and he reached out to her. The nuances of the relationship were wonderful. J didn't understand what was happening, since she was only 17 and a novice at relationships of any kind. She didn't know how to read the situation. Were they friends? Should they be lovers? Randall understood her confusion and politely ignored her numerous faux pas. J returned the favor by breaking Randall out of his routine and helping him live life versus merely existing.

The relationship grew and matured, and I was trying to figure out where it was going to go and where it should go. Then Randall collapsed in the road, and my heart sunk. I was so disappointed, because I knew this beautiful movie was taking the easy way out. Just when it became its most interesting and some delicate issues were going to have to be confronted, it was hit by the dumb plot syndrome. Then we got a disease and everything became overly sentimental. Their relationship was changed to a father-daughter relationship instead of best friends and potential lovers, and J worked out all of her issues. It was a complete cop-out, and it was very frustrating. Still, the first two acts of this movie were so good, there's no question it's worth seeing. --Bill Alward, June 12, 2002

KISS sighting: Carol Kane's face morphs into Gene Simmons' in the second or third chapter. Of course, I was pleasantly shocked, and I was surprised it was actually Gene's face. Very cool.