Showtimes & Tickets Enter Zip Code:

THEN SHE FOUND ME
Directed by Helen Hunt
Produced by Pam Koffler, Katie Roumel, Christine Vachon & Connie Tavel
Written by Alice Arlen, Victor Levin & Hunt, based on the novel by Elinor Lipman
Director of Photography, Peter Donahue
Edited by Pam Wise
Music by David Mansfield
Released by ThinkFilm
USA. 100 min. Rated R
With Helen Hunt, Bette Midler, Colin Firth, Matthew Broderick & Ben Shenkman

It took Helen Hunt 10 years to make her directorial debut, but boy was it worth the wait. The moving Then She Found Me tells the story of April Epner, a 39-year-old schoolteacher who longs to have her own child, but time is running out. She’s also a bit of a wreck. Her recent marriage to the immature Ben (Matthew Broderick) has fallen apart, her adopted mother dies, and then she is approached by her birth mother, local TV talk show host Bernice Graves, played by an over-the-top yet warmhearted Bette Midler. Bernice tells a variety of stories (you never know which one to believe) of how she gave up April all those years ago. A natural-born performer, she tries to win April over but fails miserably. In the midst of all this craziness, April meet Frank (Colin Firth), the father of one of her students, and then on top of everything, she finds out she is pregnant by Ben.

All the above insanity might seem chaotic, but in Hunt's extremely capable hands, we are able to see flawed characters making everyday decisions and the implications each choice has on everyone else. Hunt has said of her characters: “They’re all a little bit awful, they’re all a little bit wonderful, and that makes perfect sense to me.” And it makes perfect sense in the story; these characters felt real.

Hunt makes a bold statement by making April a normal looking (almost) 40-year-old woman. She's a teacher, she's tired, and, above all, she's been beaten down by life. Hunt lets us see that on her face, allowing herself to be exposed on screen in a very gutsy way. It's been a long time since I saw a close-up of an actress where she wasn't botoxed to death and I could actually discern the reactions on her face.

Along with Midler, the supporting class is stellar. My crush on Colin Firth, as the solid but bruised good guy, stands as strong as ever. Matthew Broderick has gotten older (haven't we all), but he still retains a childlike quality and is perfectly cast as the pathetic Ben, who runs back to his mommy after he escapes from April.

Ten years is a long time to try and get a movie made, but sadly for women directors, it's more typical that you would expect. In fact, two other recent releases by female directors, Tamara Jenkins (The Savages) and Kimberly Peirce (Stop-Loss), both endured 10 long years to get their sophomore efforts into the theaters. Here's to hoping that it doesn't take Hunt another decade for her sophomore effort. It would be such a shame after this auspicious debut.

Melissa Silverstein, a writer on women & popular culture and online editor for The Women's Media Center
April 25, 2008