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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.

Australian Rating: M [See Full Rating] Moderate sexual references and coarse language

Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

Genre: Comedies

Australian Theatrical Release:
Jul 24, 2008 Wide

US Box Office: $3,728,972

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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61 - 80 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

It's like an animatronic reproduction of a Jewish mom relationship erected at the world's most racist amusement park.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
05/08/08
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

An impressive directorial debut for Helen Hunt that takes an intelligent look at the ways we survive unspeakable grief and play hide and seek with love.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
05/07/08
Camerin Courtney
Camerin Courtney
Christianity Today

It’s the kind of film that practically invites you to forget about it two days after you’ve seen it.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
05/05/08
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Genuinely clever and amusing...may itself be hard to find, but it's worth a search.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
05/04/08
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

Hunt has what it takes to direct; you can see it here, in small doses. In an arena filled largely with men, it will be interesting to see what she does next.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
05/02/08
Teresa Budasi
Teresa Budasi
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Overall Then She Found Me, though earnest and clearly heartfelt, just feels tired; like Hunt's sad-eyed April, it lacks spark.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
05/02/08
Moira MacDonald
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times

Where it really matters -- working with actors -- veteran filmmakers could learn from Hunt.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
05/02/08
Ruthe Stein
Ruthe Stein
San Francisco Chronicle

This adaptation of an Elinor Lipman novel is Hunt's feature directing debut, and under the circumstances she might have been wiser to give the lead role to someone else.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
05/02/08
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

What ought to be a bittersweet movie about a woman's momentary unraveling feels like a workout class: Cardio melodrama.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
05/02/08
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe

By the closing scene, I felt privileged to be along for April's emergence from the deep waters of daughterhood and her realization that when love knocks, the heart opens wide.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
05/02/08
Carrie Rickey
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer

The result isn't overacting -- some of the acting is quite good - but a failure of modulation. Big emotions can make a movie, but a succession of them can impede flow and stop a story in its tracks.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
05/02/08
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

While Hunt's directing debut is promising, if understated, it's her performance as schoolteacher April Epner that impresses the audience.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
05/01/08
Paula Nechak
Paula Nechak
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

There's a gentle realism that makes room for laughs, drama and the slightest touch of farce, never spilling into the comically cheap and managing to explore subtler issues involving adoption

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
05/01/08
Sid Smith
Sid Smith
Chicago Tribune

The experience of watching Then She Found Me couldn't be as agonizing as the trauma onscreen, but it's close.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
05/01/08
Matt Pais
Matt Pais
Metromix.com

With the screenwriters Alice Arlen and Victor Levin, Hunt adapted the story from a 1990 novel by Elinor Lipman, and has turned the material into a fine, tense, unpredictable comedy of mixed-up emotions and sudden illuminations.

Full Review Source: New Yorker | comment Comment
04/28/08
David Denby
David Denby
New Yorker
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's a romantic comedy, it's a mother-daughter drama, and most importantly, it's an unpretentious, gentle, moving film.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
04/27/08
Marcy Dermansky
Marcy Dermansky
About.com

...Hunt, in her directorial debut, can't seem to decide whether she'd rather make a spicy ethnic dish or bland comfort food.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
04/27/08
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek

A heartfelt dramedy that's not 'as good as it gets' but still commendable.

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
04/25/08
Pete Hammond
Pete Hammond
Hollywood.com

Helen Hunt's directing debut, an adaptation of Elinor Lipman's novel, is neither particularly flashy or innovative. It is, however, filled with just what the Academy Award-winning actress, who also stars, knows a good deal about: good acting.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
04/25/08
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

For a "personal project," it's all fairly impersonal and predictable. By the second act, you know everything that's going to happen in the third. And by the third -- well, I almost found myself missing Meg Ryan.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
04/25/08
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger
 
 
61 - 80 (sorted by date; Australian 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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