MINI'S FIRST TIME

2006 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

MINI'S FIRST TIME

  In THIRTEEN, Nikki Reed, who co-wrote the screenplay, portrayed
a bad girl who tempts her high school chum into a life of sex and drugs.
In MINI'S FIRST TIME, Reed plays the title character, an amoral teenager
who measures her life via a series of "firsts." Mini is a sister under the skin
to Deedee Pruitt, the character played by Christina Ricci in
THE OPPOSITE OF SEX, as well as Ellen Page's Hayley in
HARD CANDY, although she lacks the intellect of both of those characters.

  Written and directed by Nick Guthe, MINI'S FIRST TIME traces the
titular heroine's turbulent relationship with her overbearing actress mother
Diane (Carrie-Anne Moss). Diane is the kind of parent who has trained
her daughter to make her cocktails for breakfast and whose idea of a
complement is mention that a skirt makes her daughter's legs look fat.
She is also promiscuous despite -- or perhaps because of -- being
married to Martin (Alec Baldwin), a successful if mild-mannered
businessman.

  As part of her "firsts," Mini finds employment at an escort service.
One of her first clients is a businessman, who naturally turns out to be
her stepfather. She insists on lights out and even uses his tie to blindfold
him in an attempt to keep him from learning her identity. The audience
is led to believe that worked -- until he chases after her because she
left her keys behind. Thus begins an illicit affair that eventually leads to
a plot to drive Diane to question her sanity. Mini steals drugs from
the school and slips them to her mother each morning in the cocktails
she makes. The teenager then manipulates events to make her mother
think she is going crazy, from cancelling appointments with her masseur
to hiring someone to make a crank phone call. Eventually something
unplanned occurs that brings a suspicious detective (Luke Wilson) into
Mini's orbit.

  It's easy to get caught up in the film while watching it, but when it's
over and one thinks about it, it becomes clear that MINI'S FIRST TIME
contains numerous flaws. The actors are all committed to their roles
which helps and Reed anchors the movie. (She's certainly grown as
a performer since THIRTEEN, although there are still some scenes in
which she is out of her league as a thespian.) Baldwin is fine as the
somewhat dopey stepfather who sacrifices everything for his affection
for Mini. Jeff Goldblum delivers a patented oleaginous turn as a
rich neighbor. Moss walks off with top acting honors as the tightly-
wound mother.

  MINI'S FIRST TIME has a snarky quality that works during
viewing but it eventually leaves a bad taste.


                          Rating:        C +