Everyone acts decently and you have to praise Hunt for her tenacity. But this suffers from some fairly dire cinematography and a manufactured air that prevents the watcher connecting to the whole thing.
Then She Found Me (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:112
Fresh:57
Rotten:55
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: A threadbare story anchored by strong performances, Then She Found Me is a mostly successful directorial debut by Helen Hunt.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for language, and some sexual content.
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:19-09-2008
Synopsis: The move from actor to director can be a difficult one, but actress Helen Hunt makes the transition seem effortless with THEN SHE FOUND ME. Hunt, who also produced and cowrote the film, plays April... The move from actor to director can be a difficult one, but actress Helen Hunt makes the transition seem effortless with THEN SHE FOUND ME. Hunt, who also produced and cowrote the film, plays April Epner, a down-on-her-luck schoolteacher who longs to have a child. April's chances of bringing a baby into the world are diminished when her husband, Ben (Matthew Broderick), leaves her, and more bad news follows when her adoptive mother dies. The beleaguered April subsequently forms an unexpected bond with her real mother, the overbearing TV host Bernice (Bette Midler), and takes tentative steps towards motherhood with a new man in her life, the bumbling Frank (Colin Firth). Hunt's film, which is based on the novel of the same name by Elinor Lipman, is likely to win over fans of classic rom-coms such as WHEN HARRY MET SALLY and YOU'VE GOT MAIL. At its heart the film poses some thoughtful observations on what a late-30s woman goes through when she is facing a possibly childless future. But Hunt also stirs some generous scoops of humor into the plot, providing light relief from her central character's plight, and also demonstrating her range as a writer/director. The cast members are uniformly excellent throughout, with Firth and Hunt giving strong performances that are helped along by a supporting cast that provides most of the comic relief. Hunt even finds time to provide a small role for the writer Salman Rushdie, who plays a doctor. [More]
Starring: Helen Hunt, Bette Midler, Colin Firth, Matthew Broderick
Starring: Helen Hunt, Bette Midler, Colin Firth, Matthew Broderick, Ben Shankman
Director: Helen Hunt
Director: Helen Hunt
Screenwriter: Helen Hunt, Vic Levin, Alice Arlen
Producer: Pamela Koffler, Katie Roumel, Christine Vachon, Helen Hunt, Connie Tavel
Composer: David Mansfield
Studio: ThinkFilm
Reviews for Then She Found Me
Hunt’s lovely voice, pitched in that diurnal-dizzy limbo between mezzo and soprano, is perfect for mid-life crisis. So is her gawky, strung-out, tragicomical body language.
The loudest laughs in this “serious comedy” came from three brief appearances by author Salman Rushdie as a doctor.
Given its cast and source material – Elinor Lipman’s highly-regarded novel – it all makes for a highly disappointing experience.
It’s not going to cause too much of a stir but it left me wanting to see what else she can do, so I am already looking forward to her next film.
This is not without its attractions - an occasionally waspishly witty script and some unexpected dramatic tangents - but the characters never seem more than a casually bagged collection of tics and mannerisms.
It's a glum and amateurish business on the three-in-one subject of adoption - being adopted, having your child adopted, and adopting one.
It's not the only misstep in Oscar-winning actress Helen Hunt's first film as director, which is a shame because she does a lot of things right.
The tut-tuttingly dull script refuses to supply a single happy line until Hunt squares up to the sudden arrival of Bette Midler.
Hunt’s film does soften the heart, not least because of its honesty and its sensitivity to some unfashionable dilemmas.
There’s food for thought in the pregnancy plot, although the narrative drags its heels towards a misty-eyed conclusion.
Helen Hunt makes an impressive directorial debut and gives a defiantly vanity-free performance in this engaging drama that also features strong support from Colin Firth and Bette Midler.
A bittersweet combination of comedy and drama, this sensitive film has enough strong material in it to make it worth seeing, even if it sometimes feels under-developed and a little too heart-tugging
Colin Firth ... he steams a bit for a change in a tale that's strictly so-soap.
What at first seems a morose if witty romantic comedy for adults ends up being an altogether more serious piece about a woman acquiring children but leaving behind childish things.
Latest News for Then She Found Me
September 19, 2008:
UK Critics Consensus: Tropic Thunder Soldiers On; Then She Found Me Is Found Out
This week's UK releases, expect big laughs as Ben Stiller's star-studded Hollywood satire comedy blasts onto our screens in Tropic Thunder. The sound of a big old biological... More...
May 25, 2008:
Helen Hunt makes decent directorial debut with bittersweet romantic comedy. ![]()
More...
April 21, 2008:
Then She Found Me a Labor of Love for Helen Hunt ![]()
After some time away from the spotlight, Helen Hunt has re-emerged as the producer, director, co-writer, and star of an adaptation of Elinor Lipman's novel Then She Found Me. More...
April 13, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
More...
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