Perfectly adorable

From my favorite movies..

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This film is directed by Helen Hunt, which makes sense, as she plays the 39 year-old "love interest" of Matthew Broderick and Colin Firth. Sadly, and no offense to Ms. Hunt, but viewers would have to be on drugs to see her as 39 years-old. In the film she looks much closer to 55. I would have enjoyed the film much more if the actor had been somewhat younger looking, and a bit more attractive. It's just a bit hard to imagine Matthew Broderick and Colin Firth fighting over Helen Hunt. Also, the woman she plays isn't the most delightful person, and I applauded Broderick's character dumping her in the first few minutes of the film. Much like I was happy Tom Hank's character was stuck on an island for years in Cast Away and avoided marriage to Helen Hunt's character. Lucky bastard.Anyway...the film is a chick-flick, and I watched it with a chick, who agreed that both the leading men would not be fighting over someone who looks like Helen Hunt, and especially not with her sour-puss, cheerless, sad-sack, basset hound attitude. Actually it's a bit of a boring film.

Played by first-time director Helen Hunt, April is a 39-year-old elementary school teacher in Brooklyn whose biological clock has been ticking so loudly it's been keeping her up at night. But that's just the beginning of her woes. Her husband of just a few months (Matthew Broderick) has left her; her adoptive mother has just died; and a crazy lady (Bette Midler) - a local TV talk show host - is claiming to be her biological mother (with Steve McQueen as her father, no less). Then, just as her midlife crisis is coming to a boil, in steps a conveniently abandoned father of two (Colin Firth) - one of whom is April's pupil - to sweep her off her feet, though he comes with his own share of problems as well.Though "Then She Found Me" is not quite as shopworn and trite as that synopsis may make it sound, it's still an uneasy mixture of insightful drama and plot-tweaking contrivance. In fact, the Alice Arlen/Victor Levin/Helen Hunt screenplay, based on the 1990 novel by Elinor Lipman, tries so hard to be unconventional that it often winds up feeling fake. On the positive side, though, the acting is good (why have we seen so little of Hunt on screen since she won her Oscar fourteen years ago?); the characters skew a little older than your typical romantic comedy figures; the story ends on a tremendously sweet note, and there's just enough genuine humor and charm in the movie to make it worth a look-see.One side note: the movie makes a continuity error by claiming that April was conceived in 1966 when McQueen was off in China filming "The Sand Pebbles," but later we're told she was conceived when her mother was at a drive-in showing of "Bullitt," which wasn't even released until 1968!

In Helen Hunt's feature film directorial debut, Hunt plays April Epner, a 39-year old school teacher who wishes to have a baby of her own but is aware of her biological clock running out of time. Life has many unexpected twists in store for her: her immature husband (Matthew Broderick) leaves her, her adopted mother (Lynn Cohen) dies and her fussy biological mother (Bette Midler) contacts her for the first time. While coping with all the changes, she also meets a handsome divorcé Frank (Colin Firth), with whom a new relationship might be possible, but there are still more surprises waiting for her.I was worried the movie could turn out to be just another clichéd rom-com, but luckily Hunt and the other writers didn't go for the easiest laughs when adapting Elinor Lipman's novel for the screen. The best humour is of the quiet, subtle type and found in awkward silences and conversations between two very different characters. Bette Midler's flamboyant antics work fine when contrasted to Hunt's more reserved, insecure protagonist, and while Colin Firth's British charm is closer to ordinary screen romance, he knows how to handle a role like this. Besides a comedy, the personal development of April from a mousy follower to an independent woman who finally dares to decide for herself is a decent dramatic story as well.I've always been fond of spaciously framed static shots in films, so I was happy to see Hunt using them satisfactorily in her mise-en-scène, even though the film is hardly showing off with the direction. The music fits in the dramedic atmosphere very neatly too. On a more general level, the main theme of the film is the meaning of family in one's life, be it parents (biological or adopted), spouses, significant others or children. The unpredictable nature of life in general is also examined; the ending is in tune with the idea of accepting changing plans. Perhaps a little more boldness in the story would have made the film even better, but ultimately I think Then She Found Me is a well made effort and a good start for Hunt's directorial career which will hopefully continue in the future.

I've thought a lot about this film in the 24 hours after seeing it. I remember it as a very well written, directed, and acted film. And the next day decided to research it on IMDb since I had not heard of it before my wife rented the DVD. Amazed it was directed by Helen Hunt, who gives an awesome performance, drawing out deep emotions (and looking a bit drawn but that is the role). I thought the director really knew how to draw out her best acting performance, the depth of emotion, and WHOW!, I find out SHE was the director. AMAZING! A cast of great actors in every role (Tim Robbins in a tiny cameo) plus a strong emotional script, well directed, makes this a very impressive film 24 hours after seeing it. I will recommend it.