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Movies / On DVD / Then She Found Me
Then She Found Me

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Then She Found Me (2008)

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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

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Reviews for Then She Found Me

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

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.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
09/19/08
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

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.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
09/19/08
Nigel Andrews
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times

The loudest laughs in this “serious comedy” came from three brief appearances by author Salman Rushdie as a doctor.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
09/19/08
Sun Online

Given its cast and source material – Elinor Lipman’s highly-regarded novel – it all makes for a highly disappointing experience.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
09/19/08
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

Unendurable American middle-aged whingeing.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
09/19/08
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

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.

Full Review Source: Heart 106.2 | comment Comment
09/19/08
Heart 106.2

All in all, not quite as good as it gets.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
09/19/08
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
Total 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.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
09/19/08
Tim Evans
Tim Evans
Sky Movies

It's a glum and amateurish business on the three-in-one subject of adoption - being adopted, having your child adopted, and adopting one.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
09/19/08
Tim Robey
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
09/19/08
Cath Clarke
Cath Clarke
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The tut-tuttingly dull script refuses to supply a single happy line until Hunt squares up to the sudden arrival of Bette Midler.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
09/19/08
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Hunt’s film does soften the heart, not least because of its honesty and its sensitivity to some unfashionable dilemmas.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
09/19/08
Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There’s food for thought in the pregnancy plot, although the narrative drags its heels towards a misty-eyed conclusion.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
09/19/08
Anna Smith
Anna Smith
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
09/18/08
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

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

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
09/18/08
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Colin Firth ... he steams a bit for a change in a tale that's strictly so-soap.

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
09/18/08
Victor Olliver
Victor Olliver
Teletext

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.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/15/08
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
05/13/09
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Gerald Peary
Gerald Peary
Boston Phoenix

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/18/08
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
all

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. Opens in new window
More...

April 21, 2008: Then She Found Me a Labor of Love for Helen Hunt Opens in new window
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 Opens in new window
More...

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