My First Mister (5 Stars)

Watching films that star Leelee Sobieski is always a bittersweet experience for me. I consider her to be the best actress alive today, but I should really call her the best ex-actress. She abandoned her career when she was 26, claiming that it's because 90% of films contain sexual stuff. That's such a ridiculous statement that I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Of the 31 films that she made in her career, only two contain sexual stuff, which is 6%. In a more recent interview she said that she didn't like kissing men in films. If she counted kisses as sexual stuff, which would be very prude, it would only bring the percentage up to 26% (eight films), still far below the 90% that she claims. Even if the 90% were true, she could still choose roles in the other 10%, which is more than 50 films a year in America alone.

What's even worse is that Leelee said in the same recent interview that she doesn't think that children should be allowed to appear in films. In the same breath she mentioned the #MeToo movement, as if children are being sexually abused by appearing in films. I really wish that I could talk to her personally about her views. When she makes statements like these she's rejecting her whole career, which started when she was 11. "A Horse For Danny", her first leading role, was a wonderful children's film without the least hint of sexuality. Is that the sort of film that she wishes she'd never made?

"My First Mister" is a love story, but considering the subject matter it's remarkably unsexual. Jennifer, a 17-year-old goth girl, falls in love with a 49-year-old man. She makes repeated advances, but he always does the right thing by turning her down. On the one hand it's because he's much older than her. On the other hand it's because he has leukemia. He feels affection for Jennifer, but it's precisely this affection that makes him stay away from a romantic relationship.

Randall keeps his illness secret. He doesn't want sympathy. It's a shock to Jennifer to see Randall collapse when he's jogging. It's also a shock to the viewer. For the first hour the film is a slow-moving romance, and then we see him lying unconscious in the street. It changes the film's direction. Jennifer goes on a mission to put Randall in touch with his son who he's never met. She can't save his life, but she can give him a few weeks of happiness before his death.

As in (almost) all of her films, Leelee Sobieski shows a full range of emotions. Slight changes in her facial expression from one second to another say more than long speeches. No other actress has ever given some emotional performances. She needs to get back in front of a camera. She should return from retirement.

Success Rate:  - 8.5

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