I love this movie so much

Absolutely the worst movie.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Jennifer (Leelee Sobieski) does not fit in. A total misfit, she's as wacky as a teenager can be. Goth-ed out with multiple piercings, tattoos, and dyed hair, she listens to strange music, watches vintage TV, eats primarily chocolate, and self injures. But now high school is over and she needs a job. In an effort to secure employment at the upscale Century City Mall in Los Angeles, Jennifer, a 17-year-old goth-punk, makes a nuisance of herself at a clothing store run by 49-year-old Randall Harris (Brooks), who eventually hires her on a trial basis as a stockroom clerk. Jennifer refers to herself simply as "J", and thus asks Randall if it's okay if she calls him "R", to which he accedes and this is the beginning of a weird relationship.The first half of the movie is very quirky, charming and intriguing. The two actors are wonderful in their roles and make us believe in the setting. The tone feels real in the beginning and the added touch of her school being a jungle, literally, adds a dark humour to the proceedings. Feeling isolated from the other people in her life, J finds she is somehow slowly attracted to a beer bellied Randall. The first signs of stupidity reared up its ugly head when ridiculously beautiful women were falling head over heels for this homely man who had no discernible attractive traits and weren't making another appearance, save for one lady. This had to be a strong point since jealousy, or some lower iteration of it, was a major point for Jennifer to fall for this guy and it was done horribly.Society loves to wag their fingers and act judgmental when an older person who isn't family is out with a younger kid. They don't think that they could just be friends. While the feelings between Randall and Jennifer were understandable, it just didn't feel authentic since the very basis of their relationship was contrived and flawed. Then it went to sappy melodrama with Randall having a life threatening disease and a son (played by a young Quinn from Dexter) as well. The ending was gloriously asinine with none of the adults actually caring that their teenage daughter and this middle aged man were in some sort of a very visible relationship and went a step further with Randall advising his son to take care of Jennifer. If it hadn't completely gone off the rails before, well it did now. The movie has its charms, but its manipulative and flawed.5/10

This is a modern morality tale for the GOP. In the film's first half, isolated goth leelee lifts an entertaining finger to her family, school and the world. Sure, everything is exaggerated to make a point, so it isn't at all realistic. Also, she's such a sweetie, even in the darkest moments: no room for the real world of genuinely dislikeable people. Her absent father from hell is John Goodman, hardly a credible hate figure. Her problem of course is no-one understands her - she even talks to her dead grandmother for company. Of course, she falls like a brick for the first nice person she comes across (older man with moustache and other issues). So, typical problems, lacking all realism and laid on with a shovel. Still, all great fun, as she cocks a snook at the world with some great one liners and you forgive the surrealism, a bit like Desperately Seeking Susan.Where it all goes pear shaped is in part II, where she on a whim or two rapidly gets a job, has a great boss, cleans up, gets a flat, brings a family together, finds a nice boyfriend, comforts a dying man and reconciles with her family. As there is no inherent drama or observation of reality, the sudden lurch into motherhood, apple pie and family values becomes a simple homily. Hasn't this director read Voltaire's Candide? Pass the sick bag, Alice.

I really enjoyed this movie, and actually saw it when it first came out. years later now, does it not remind anyone of Lost in Translation Murray/Johansen?? For some reason I feel it completely does, I feel the only reason why Lost got so much attention was Sofia Coppola's reputation, and I'm not going to deny Murray or Johanssan's credibility, I am complete fans of both...However I feel that this movie could have been more of a hit had it had an exotic setting like Japan, or just the boasting word of mouth hype that some movies are lucky enough to get, and this movie just didn't really attract that many people sadly..

I only caught this film by accident! ... it was on TV and I couldn't decided what I wanted to do, so probably the best time to catch me off guard!! the performances are magical, "Albert Brooks" whom I had never heard of, (me being a Brit and NOT seeing much of "Saturday Night Live"), and being the same age as myself portrayed my generation of an average Joe to a T ...and "Jennifer" played by "Leelee Sobieski" made me realise that not ALL kids are the way I see them portrayed in movies and on TV, she played the part as a REAL person (not some dimwitted moron, or violent thug) ... all in all a wonderful story and told like it should be!