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Then She Found Me (2007)

tomatometer

50

Average Rating: 5.5/10
Reviews Counted: 116
Fresh: 58 | Rotten: 58

A threadbare story anchored by strong performances, Then She Found Me is a mostly successful directorial debut by Helen Hunt.

57

Average Rating: 5.5/10
Critic Reviews: 28
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 12

A threadbare story anchored by strong performances, Then She Found Me is a mostly successful directorial debut by Helen Hunt.

audience

45

liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 17,818

My Rating

Movie Info

Academy Award-winning actress Helen Hunt makes her feature directorial debut with this adaptation of Elinor Lipman's best-selling novel about a Philadelphia schoolteacher (Hunt) whose long-lost birth mother (Bette Midler) reappears at the very moment her daughter is careening into a midlife crisis. Abandoned by her husband (Matthew Broderick) and still grieving the death of her adoptive mother, the emotionally fragile teacher enters into a relationship with the father of one of her students just

R, 1 hr. 40 min.

Drama, Romance, Comedy

Helen Hunt, Victor Levin, Alice Arlen

Sep 2, 2008

$3.7M

ThinkFilm

Cast

All Critics (119) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (61) | Rotten (58) | DVD (7)

Unexpectedly sharp, light and appealing; a testament to Hunt's skills behind the camera.

October 18, 2008 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

From the looks of things, the actors were simply let loose as themselves.

July 16, 2008 Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | Comment
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Suffers from, if anything, a lack of pure confidence in the story, the actors or the audience.

May 16, 2008 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Hunt draws some good performances from the cast and wisely chose a low-key personal story for her directorial debut.

May 9, 2008 Full Review Source: USA Today | Comment
USA Today
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A few plot turns too many undermine Helen Hunt's Then She Found Me, and that's too bad, because Hunt shows some nice touches here both in front of and behind the camera.

May 9, 2008 Full Review Source: Detroit News | Comment (1)
Detroit News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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

May 5, 2008 Comment
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Trying to establish a serio-comic tone is a task best suited for seasoned directors. Given that a boom microphone drops into the film frame at least twice, Hunt has more basic production elements to master.

October 18, 2008 Comment
Palo Alto Weekly

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.

September 19, 2008 Full Review Source: This is London | Comment
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.

September 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Financial Times | Comment
Financial Times

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

September 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Sun Online | Comment
Sun Online

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

September 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | Comment
Daily Mirror [UK]

Unendurable American middle-aged whingeing.

September 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | Comment
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.

September 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Heart 106.2 | Comment
Heart 106.2

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

September 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Total Film | Comment
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.

September 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Sky Movies | Comment
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.

September 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | Comment
Daily Telegraph
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Then She Found Me

If you are a romantic, you will like this movie. The main characters are all going through major changes in their lives - April's marriage is falling apart and the is 39 with no kids; Bernice is feeling left out of the daughter she gave up as an infant; Frank is having difficulty raising his kids. The movie takes all

January 22, 2012
Redlats

Super Reviewer

The movie has a good cast, a ton of perspectives about love, life, relationships and the seeds parents sow. If your looking for a film with acoustic guitars, family matters, and good tempo without being unrealistic then watch "Then She Found Me".

December 25, 2009
rezpatriot

Super Reviewer

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Latest News for Then She Found Me

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,...

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