My First Mister

After watching her breathtaking, edgy performance in My First Mister, one wonders what Leelee Sobieski is doing wasting her energies on the teen-movie circuit. When they eventually hand Sobieski an Oscar twenty years from now, there will no doubt be retroactive critical praise for the work she did when she was young. That praise should start with My First Mister.

Jennifer (Sobieski) is a heavy-metal baby, Goth poster-child and tattoo-covered misfit of a 17-year-old. Randall (an equally impressive Albert Brooks) is an uptight, 50-year-old clothing-store manager. He's a sulking, depressed divorceé. When new high-school graduate Jennifer applies for a job at Randall's store a strange romance-cum-friendship begins. He loosens up, she straightens up, and eventually, she learns his hidden secret.

Unlike countless films that have tried their hand at oddball romance with surprising, shocking details, My First Mister succeeds. Christine Lahti--an Oscar winner herself for 1996 short film Lieberman in Love--offers steady direction with a focus on the characters, not the romance. Most mismatched love stories make the mistake of focusing on the "deep" theme of love. Lahti, an accomplished actress, lets the romance and friendship work around the characters--she knows exactly the words that her actors need to hear to unlock their best performances.