Editorial Review:Product Description:An all-star cast with memorable performances by Helen Hunt, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler and Colin Firth powers this smart, funny drama about love and destiny. Desperate to start a family, schoolteacher April Epner (Hunt) is thrown into confusion when she is unexpectedly abandoned by her husband (Broderick). She gets another shock when she meets her unusual birth mother (Midler), a self-centered talk show host who's not exactly the ideal mom. At first she rejects her, along with the attentions of a divorced dad (Firth), until she finds her life opening up in ways she had never imagined.
Amazon.com:Like all the most intriguing titles,
Then She Found Me lends itself to multiple interpretations. Does 'she' refer to New York talk-show host Bernice (Bette Midler, in a welcome return to the screen), the self-proclaimed birth parent who enters the life of schoolteacher April (Oscar winner Helen Hunt) upon the death of her adoptive mother? Or does the pronoun refer to April, who meets divorced dad Frank (Colin Firth) the day her marriage to co-worker Ben (Matthew Broderick) comes to an abrupt halt? The surprising conclusion to Hunt's directorial debut suggests a third interpretation. In adapting Elinor Lipman's novel, Hunt treads well-worn ground, but does so with grace and sensitivity. When Ben walks out on his 39-year-old wife, she fears he's left with her chances of having a baby. As much as she enjoyed her childhood, April would prefer not to adopt, and with the support of her non-adopted brother, Freddy (Ben Shenkman), she struggles to reconcile her warm feelings towards the awkward Frank with her chilly reaction to the slippery Bernice. Though April has a hard time imagining they could be related, the teacher and the TV personality both want children in their lives, so it's not as if they lack a common bond. When April finds out she's pregnant, further complications ensue. Though
Then She Found Me circles Lifetime movie-of-the-week territory, Hunt resists the urge to smooth away her characters’ rough edges, investing her film with the crackle of real life.
--Kathleen C. Fennessy
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Related Items:
see more
Related Items:
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
-
Start the pan fireworks, as this film did not have any itself...
Ironically, this film actually has animated more people in debate than it did in producing an interesting story on screen. I have noticed that people that rate this film poorly get flamed from all sides so I am sure it will make for fun discussions.
The reviews here have explained the story nicely, so I will stick with my usual production/technical view. On the storyline though I have to admit the only emotion I felt throughout was irritation. Everyone cast here is better than they showed so please do not watch this thinking any less of the actors and now director Helen Hunt. And definitely do not watch this for Broderick as most of his few scenes involve bad sex. Helen Hunt said it best in her interview; how everyone she tried to get this film made with kept saying this is not a film. Even Bette Midler admitted she kept turning down the role but caved in the end.
The story is a mess from beginning to end, which fits in with the stilted performances of everyone. It felt so forced and incredibly insincere at every turn, that by that Hallmark ending you can't hit the stop button fast enough. Which leads me to the Blu menu for this disc. It gives away the ending by showing the entire last scene if you let it idle long enough, so if you do not want to know prior to watching, hit play right away.
The Blu transfer was one of the worst I have seen as numerous failings show up throughout. I tried on several displays to double check, but it was distracting at times, especially during the interior house scenes and associated night footage (different camera had to be being used). The special features are the same as on the DVD with the short and uncomfortable cast interviews and HH's commentary. The cover art keeps ringing with this "funny" and "extremely funny" language. I have already had several customers bring it back and say they laughed once or not at all. Do not expect an outright comedy in any fashion.
Disliking this film does not mean I have issue with the topics covered (adoption, infertility, overbearing mean mothers, etc.), I am in fact sympathetic. This will not be a recommendation though and will not be categorized in the comedy section.
Rating: 
-
Bravo Helen Hunt
This was an impressive movie. Independent, yes. Full of surprises, yes. Helen Hunt directed the movie as well as starred in it. I have always admired her as an actress ever since as good as it gets with jack nicholson. This is a movie about a woman getting older that wants a child. She gets married in the beginning, and then her husband decides he isnt ready for the pressure. He knows she wants a baby, but he isnt sure he is ready for the responsibility.
Depressed and alone, she finds solace in a divorced father of two who is semi-angry, semi-depressed, and in a way, ready to move on. She ignores his advances at first, but finally realizes it is time to move on from the husband she believed to be the one.
I love Colin Firth in this movie, he has an excellent display of passion and anger at each event that happens to him. He seems to be a mate of challenge for our heroine, but at the same time the potential for a better future.
Bette Midler was also equally superb. She played the crazy, sometimes destructive liar pretty well. She is very self centered, and changes the subject frequently, but you cannot help but resist her.
Excellent from all angles, a must see. It is too bad it was dubbed an independent piece, as not everyone knows about it. We have an independent theater that just shows these types of films. I will be buying it, but it is definitly worth a watch over and over again.
