Rating: 
Summary: surpasses the "20 something sarcastic film student" zeal.
Review: Some reviews criticize the film's rather traditionally conventional ending (of course the "traditionally conventional ending" is no longer a conventional ending, thanks to the gen x gradstudents in film). However, this film renders a hopeful fantasy, wrapped in a tragicomedy, that simply delivers what people want to see in movies: a heart-warming story! C'mon, if people wanted to see something that was more reality based, we would rent documentaries, not movies. All I know is that in the last 20 minutes of the movie, I could not stop crying like a baby. Besides, if film students are so concerned over the film betraying realism, they should know that film school IS a betrayal to realism. Go to business school!As for normal people who want to watch a good heart warming flick, watch this movie!
Rating: 
Summary: A Very Pleasant Surprise
Review: When I first rented this movie from the library a while ago, I hadn't heard anything at all about it. I guess I rented it just out of curiosity to see how it compared to all the other Woody Allen-esque excuses for borderline jailbait romances I assumed it would be just based on the cover. Boy was I in for a pleasant surprise! This turned out to be one of the most riveting and enjoyable movies I've seen in years. It is complex yet immediately comprehendible to the higher emotions, which is just what it needs to be considering what happens. If Christine Lahti didn't win any awards for her excellent direction she should have. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: I wish I could rate it an 11!
Review: I don't know what you people who say this movie was corny and a waste of film are talking about! Has the planet gone mad?! You say it had such a "Hollywood ending" because she PROBABLY ends up with "R"'s son, but that wasn't the point of the movie. The point is that she is so sick of being dissapointed and lonely that she has become numb, "R" meets her, they become the best of friends, and he opens her heart! What film have you seen lately that didn't have a pleasant ending? Try none! I'm just getting hot headed because I believe this film should have received an award of some sort, I have never been able to find a movie like it.With so many "Joe Dirt"'s and "Two Weeks Notice"'s this is a true breath of fresh air! It is funny, heartbreaking( I think I cried a lake the first time I saw it) and very well acted! So please to anyone who is thinking of buying or renting this film, PAY NO ATTENTION to the people who totally misjudge this film.
Rating:
Summary: Lovely
Review: This movie was lovely. It made me laugh and cry. Hehehe it has a lot of humor in it. It is a vibe of Ghost World and Virgin Suicides. So if you like those movies, you will love this one.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Thing Happened On The Way To The Cemetery
Review: My First Mister demonstrates the power and importance of friendship, of love, of trust and honesty. The film is convincing in the proposition that the value of life is measured and derived by the risks we take. Strong performances by the film's stars Albert Brooks and Leelee Sobieski and its wonderful ensemble cast. So if you want to get close to your humanity spend some time with My First Mister. And bring a handkerchief and someone you care about.
Rating:
Summary: Suprisingly Insightful, Witty, and Relevant
Review: There's not much I can write that isn't redundant of the other rave reviews below, except that I too, think it was an amazingly good film. Despite the dumb title, the storyline, acting, themes and soundtrack made this the best film I've seen in a long long time. Whether you are 15 or 55, you'll probably connect with it in some way.
Rating:
Summary: Done before but not this well
Review: The combination of 17-year-old J (for Jennifer) who writes epitaphs in the darkness of her Goth life and almost-fifty, suprisingly keen-witted and tolerant Randall shouldn't work as the leading pair of any film. But they do because of the heart-felt and profoundly intelligent performances of Leelee Sobieski (of the piercing gray-blue eyes) and Albert Brooks (who should, by now, have an entire shelf filled with Academy Awards). Goth girl and uptight clothing salesman make a gentle connection that proves enlightening and life-affirming for both of them. Directed to great effect by Christine Lahti, this is a film that could've been a sweetly sickening confection. Instead, its potentially saccharine moments are salvaged by surprising nuggets of truth and humor. We have the privilege of watching these two characters grow and evolve into finer versions of themselves. Ably assisted by Carol Kane (as J's ditzy but good-hearted mother) and Michael McKean (one of the exceptionally versatile regulars on the great Tracy Ullman show) in a toupee that's so terrible it deserves a special award. Kudos go to Mary Kay Place and John Goodman who carry off their supporting roles good-naturedly. This is a lovely film that tugs at the heart-strings without being manipulative while, at the same time, tweaking our funny bones.
Most highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Touching Gem !
Review: This was a beautifuly made movie that surprised me! The two primary actors are sensational, moving and convincing. Like many other reviews I read, it is not what you may think by the title or assumptions regarding the theme. It is a wonderful movie of love, friendship and caring for one another's well being. I was very moved and would highly recommend this movie for all ages.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie
Review: I really recommend this movie it was wonderful. I could really relate!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Tries too hard
Review: Seventeen year-old Jennifer (Leelee Sobieski) is a parent's worst nightmare. She dresses in black leather, is obsessed with the linked themes of pain and death, locks herself in her room to listen to music of the Acid Reflux genre, is disinterested in school, sports large (albeit fake) tattoos, and has had her faced multiple pierced by shiny metal studs (nose, eyebrows, lips). Her chief hobby is writing tortured self-eulogies. Her distracted mother (Carol Kane), completely alienated, is not so much unaware of her daughter's condition as left feeling completely helpless in the face of it. Jennfer's stepfather spends his time watching TV game shows. Welcome to a typical Southern California family unit as imagined by small town residents of the Midwest. Enter Randall (Albert Brooks), the forty-nine year-old, divorced, and supremely square manager of an upscale clothing store in Beverly Hills that reluctantly offers Jennifer a job as a stock clerk if only she'll remove the hardware from her face so she won't scare away the trade. Things progress from there, and the two are soon on a first initial basis, "J" and "R" respectively. And "J" is out front, conservatively wardrobed, selling. Mom is thrilled. Sobieski is actually quite good in her role, and one hopes she'll find better material. She effectively portrays Jennifer as a young woman adrift without an anchoring father figure. It's certainly not her stepfather, a Complete Zero who should have been eliminated from the plot entirely, nor is it any male teacher or her biological father Ben, the latter an aging hippie played by John Goodman. Randall fits the bill, though he himself is a loner who's unable to establish relationships because of a little problem that eventually reveals itself. If the scriptwriters had left it at that, it might have been fine. But then they also try and ameliorate the dysfunction that exists between Jennifer and Mom, between Randall and his ex, between Jennifer and Ben, and between Randall and any woman his own age. By the time "J" is offering a toast to the "F" words (Friends, Family, Fate, Forgiveness, Forever) at a family dinner, and a tuxedoed "R" is dancing with her while dragging along an IV pole, the viewer is almost smothered in the ambient warm fuzziness of it all. And Jennifer's last scene with Randall's long-lost son (What, that too?!) was so corny I was almost moved to tears. About forty-five minutes into MY FIRST MISTER, the direction the film seemed to be heading reminded me of BREEZY, that forgettable but straight forward 1973 movie starring Bill Holden as a fifty year-old divorcé who has an affair with a seventeen year-old free spirit played by Kay Lenz. The good news is that MY FIRST MISTER veered off from going there. The bad news is that it didn't continue straight on. While MY FIRST MISTER is a trendy, touch-feely film about isolated people reaching out to connect with each other, it tried to hard to be believable, and then just wasn't.
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