My First Mister Critic Reviews

Leelee Sobieski and Albert Brooks, especially Mr. Brooks, deliver outstanding performances in the first feature film to be directed by Ms. Lahti.Read the full review

Risks seeming too earnestly therapeutic for its own good. But what makes My First Mister a successful feature directing debut for Lahti is the emotional veracity it summons.Read the full review

About reaching out, about seeing the other person, about having something to say and being able to listen. So what if the ending is in autopilot? At least it's a flight worth taking.Read the full review

In its first two-thirds, My First Mister, which marks Christine Lahti's feature directorial debut, looks to be a winner. But it takes a disastrously wrong turn toward the end that all but destroys the good work that's come before.Read the full review

It's a measure of Brooks' stature that he survives the self-sabotage and comes through with his most engaging performance in years.Read the full review

The harder this film tries to be quirky and edgy, the more it feels like a run-of-the mill TV movie.Read the full review

My First Mister, which was written by Jill Franklyn, watches Jennifer with lively interest, but rarely pierces the mysteries of her soul.Read the full review

Brooks guards the movie from overheating in a surfeit of warmedy.Read the full review

Lahti's feature directorial debut walks an innocuous middle line between the story's maudlin possibilities and its meaningful potential.Read the full review