My First Mister Details

This sweet film about the relationship between two lonely people benefits from superb performances from a cast that includes Carol Kane, Michael McKean, John Goodman and, in the leads, Albert Brooks (in one of his best performances since Broadcast News) and Leelee Sobieski. She plays the alienated teenager (complete with piercings and tattoos) who spends her days wandering around the mall until she sees a middle-aged man rearranging the window of a men's clothing shop. She asks for a job, and once she's agreed to tone down her appearance to work there, the two become friends. Unfortunately, writer Jill Franklyn loses courage about the relationship before the film ends and we are left with a contrived plot twist, but for the first half this is a moving and enjoyable tale.

A sitcom masquerading as a movie, and abandoning a character study of two misfits for mawkish sentimentality.