Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

landisc ... so I can't really rate it. But I can say that the character J was pretty annoying. So she paints with blood and sits down on moving escalators and glares at the conformist sheep surrounding her in the mall. Was the "Comedy" part of this moving supposed to be laughing at her? If so, then yeah, it's pretty funny! Otherwise the movie is painfully dull, kind of like the knife J uses to cut herself.I will say that the friendship that arises between J and her boss is somewhat interesting. Nonetheless, I watched this movie on a Tivo and found myself wanting to fast forward not only through the commercials, but through the movie as well. I would recommend that only individuals with a very high tolerance for angsty, attention-seeking teenage characters watch this motion picture.

Claudio Carvalho Jennifer Benson (Leelee Sobieski) is a seventeen years old misfit punk teenager that uses piercing, tattoos, wears only black clothes and dyed hair, self-inflicts injures and has fixation for death. She misses a father and a normal mother, since Mrs. Benson (Carol Kane) has trouble in the communication with her, and feels absolutely rejected. While looking for a job, she meets the forty-nine years old Randall Harris (Albert Brooks), a lonely man who owns a shopping store, and he hires her. They are opposites but with loneliness and lack of friends in common. They become close friends, and their interaction changes their behavior for good while secrets and feelings are disclosed.This is the second work of the excellent underrated actress Christine Lahti as director that I see (the other one is the short "Lieberman in Love"), and also a surprisingly great movie. The original and the Brazilian titles are simply awful and vulgar, and do not mirror this sensitive story of loneliness and friendship. Leelee Sobieski has another great performance in the role of a disturbed and rebellious teenager, needy of love and care, who changes her behavior when she meets her soul-mate friend in a middle-age man. I am not fan of Albert Brooks, but he is great performing Randall Harris, the man who touches Jennifer in the heart. In the end, a toast to all special "F" words: to friends, family, fate, forgiveness and forever. Wonderful and touching! My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Meu Primeiro Homem" ("My First Man")

laughneyez6 This film starts out troubling the audience by the slight possible relationship between R and J. But then we see that their friendship helped both remove themselves from their respective self-prisons. J is trapped in her mothers world where she feels she has to be the rebel. R is stuck in his over protective, safe shell and can't seem to break free. Together they find companionship and learn most of life's most challenging secrets together. This movie was touching in the very sense that it asks the audience to have an open mind about the films main idea but it is equally beautiful and bittersweet. In the end, the theme of breaking free and being yourself, and loving with your whole entire heart becomes truly apparent.

Andy (film-critic) I was not ready for such a powerful, intelligent, and intricately detailed film. I had just assumed this would be another Hollywood schlock-fest featuring the dry humor of Albert Brooks and Leelee Sobieski attempting to reconnect with a teenie-bopper audience. I was wrong. This was such a strong film that dedicated itself to developing strong characters, to giving us honest emotions, and providing us a story that is not unfamiliar in the "real" world that it nearly left my jaw hanging on the ground. From the opening moments in which we are focused directly on the life of Jennifer (aka "J") to the unrecognizable change to following Randall (aka "R") My First Mister will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you realize that friendship is stronger than the clothes you wear or the amount of piercings on you face. Through the use of Brooks' "every man" persona and Sobieski's attention to detail with her character, this film gives us a rare glimpse into Lahti's near-perfect film.What initially pulled me into this film was the untraditional Hollywood story that scribe Jill Franklyn unfolds before us. I assumed, prior to watching the film that this was going to be a sexual film mocking the taboos of age in our society. From the completely baffling byline, one could only assume that we were about to experience an early version of Thirteen, but Lahti and Franklyn do something rather unexpected. The idea of sex is placed in front of us early in the film and prior to the climax, but it isn't the central focus. By building this film around the premise of friendship instead of sex, Lahti creates a unique and poignant film about other cultural taboos in our society. She eliminates the idea of sex and gives us two strong-willed characters that, perhaps in another life, may have had a sexual relationship, but now are just seeking companionship and comfort. What brings a smile to my face with this story is the way that it is developed. Lahti nearly teases us with the idea of a sexual story several times, but instead builds a solid foundation around friendship. She makes us, the audience, feel as if we are meeting two friends for the first time. By eliminating sex, she pulls us deeper within the characters allowing us to see the true "love" that is obviously between these visual opposites. I use the word "visual" because we do not believe their connection at first because of the clothes that they wear. A Goth girl befriends Mr. Rogers? Society would tell us that this could never happen, but the Lahti persuades us by giving us two of the strongest characters to play against each other in modern cinematic history.I realize that others would argue that there have been stronger matching in Hollywood long before Brooks and Sobieski, which I would agree of classic Hollywood, but recently (basically 80s to present) it is hard to find two actors that seem to compliment each other like a great cheese and aged red wine. Sobieski dove, head first, into her character giving "J" mannerisms and characteristics that seemed pure and researched. I felt as if Sobieski was one of those misunderstood Goths that I had class with in school. From the poetry, the eye movements when speaking, and the overall self-abusive negativity that she has against herself as well as those around her. She patiently waits for the right person to enter her insane life and finds that with Brooks. For those seeking his typical sarcasm and wry attitude, My First Mister may disappoint. Albert Brooks contains himself in this film. He does so to the point that midway through the feature I forgot that it was funnyman Brooks. He amazingly transforms himself into an older version, in a khaki color, of "J". The two play so well off each other that as an audience member you have the chance to enjoy both the acting as well as a very strongly developed story about family and friendship.I have talked about the story, I have talked about the characters, but none of this would have been possible if it were not for the brilliant direction behind the camera and the talented eye of minimal director Christine Lahti. At first I was unsure of how well she would be able to handle such a deeply emotional topic, if she would cliché the characters and fill their mouths with remedial dialogue that would be painful to both the eyes and ears, but instead she remained calm, cool, and completely collective throughout the entire film. It was obvious that she had done her homework prior to each scene and before each take. She had the control of her actors, which developed into some great on-screen chemistry, as well as she knew how to tactfully take us to the next emotional level. Sure, it wasn't perfect (the ending seemed a bit tattered), but Lahti remained focused and even cleverly changed the focus throughout the film with the greatest of ease. I was surprised to see that Lahti has not directed more after this project, because it was obvious that her talent was behind the camera.Overall, I thought My First Mister was a sensational film. We had a superb cast that complimented each other so well that we could easily forget that we were watching a film. We had a story that spoke emotionally and socially about friendship and family on more than just a "June Cleaver" level. Finally, we had a director that was not afraid to take risks and do her homework. This story works on so many levels that to begin to unravel it would take more time than allowed. I suggest this film strongly because it will make you think twice about passing judgment on someone due to their clothes or piercing habits, who knows where friendship could erupt! Grade: **** out of *****