My First Mister
Paramount Classics | Release Date: October 12, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
9
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
A human-scale comedy that reaches across generations to tickle, connect and embrace. Read full review
80
New Times (L.A.)Gregory Weinkauf
As it stands, it's cute, occasionally poignant and outrageously implausible. Read full review
80
The New York TimesLawrence Van Gelder
Leelee Sobieski and Albert Brooks, especially Mr. Brooks, deliver outstanding performances in the first feature film to be directed by Ms. Lahti. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
While My First Mister has considerable charm, it suffers somewhat from comparison with "Ghost World." Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
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.
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
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 full review
75
Chicago TribuneLoren King
Offers something rare for a modern movie: an uncynical depiction of the redemptive power of human relationships.
70
L.A. WeeklyF. X. Feeney
Christine Lahti, making her directorial debut, wrings good laughs and strong emotion throughout, largely through the performances. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
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 full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
It's a measure of Brooks' stature that he survives the self-sabotage and comes through with his most engaging performance in years. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
It's a real shame the film gets mushy at the end. The result is an all too conventional ending on a film that should have been much better.
50
Chicago ReaderRonnie Scheib
A bathetic TV-movie-type "learning experience" that provides about as much insight into teenagers as 40s westerns did into Indians--it's all in the costumes and customs. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleRussell Smith
The splendid performance by Sobieski, who ends her long run as industry-mag buzz princess and arrives as a full-fledged star. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Sobieski manages to make Jennifer's inevitable transformation more than a little bittersweet. Apparently even clichés click sometimes. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The harder this film tries to be quirky and edgy, the more it feels like a run-of-the mill TV movie. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
My First Mister, which was written by Jill Franklyn, watches Jennifer with lively interest, but rarely pierces the mysteries of her soul.
50
Film ThreatMichael Dequina
Lahti's feature directorial debut plays like a watered-down variation ("Ghost World") -- that is, until the final third, when the film not only deviates but flat out derails. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Brooks guards the movie from overheating in a surfeit of warmedy. Read full review
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
By the film's interminable, unforgivably embarrassing third act it sinks in a sticky swamp of sentimentality. Read full review
40
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Lahti's feature directorial debut walks an innocuous middle line between the story's maudlin possibilities and its meaningful potential. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Drifts from goofy situation comedy to pop culture parody to a last-act load of sentiment that would sink a trash barge. Read full review
30
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
One hundred and nine minutes of drama and not a single moment rings true. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Although the movie has its moments, it's a tearjerker that jerks too hard. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleBob Graham
A coming-of-age story that gets it all wrong. Read full review
20
Village VoiceJessica Winter
The best that can be said about director Christine Lahti's feature debut is that it doesn't fall into any ready category. Read full review
20
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The movie is fussy and organized rather than moving. It follows a pattern so precisely, it's as if Lahti thought points would be taken off if she colored outside the lines. Read full review
16
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
Intelligent teens will hate this film, and adults will just be embarrassed. Read full review
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