Then She Found Me

Critic Reviews

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

-Carina ChocanoFull Review

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

-Christy DeSmithFull Review

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

-John AndersonFull Review

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

-Claudia PuigFull Review

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.

-Tom LongFull Review

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

-Richard Roeper

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.

-Teresa BudasiFull Review

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

-Moira MacDonaldFull Review

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

-Ruthe SteinFull Review

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.

-J. R. JonesFull Review

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

-Wesley MorrisFull Review

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.

-Carrie RickeyFull Review

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

-Sid SmithFull Review

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.

-David DenbyFull Review

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

-David AnsenFull Review

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.

-Stephen WhittyFull Review

A smart little bittersweet comedy.

-Lou LumenickFull Review

Without strong guidance, the self-conscious lines make the characters sound like, well, characters rather than actual human beings.

-Elizabeth WeitzmanFull Review

A bizarre, overcooked broth.

-Joe MorgensternFull Review

Then She Found Me, a serious comedy, is more impressive for what it refuses to do than for its modest accomplishment.

-Stephen Holden

Helen Hunt deserves better.

-Stephen ColeFull Review

Hunt's performance is terrific and far more nuanced than her Oscar-winning turn in As Good as It Gets. As an actress, she helps make her director look very good indeed.

-Clark CollisFull Review

Gaunt, grim and wound as tight as a ukulele's string, April Epner (Helen Hunt), the elementary schoolteacher undergoing the mother of all midlife crises in Then She Found Me, is a stern challenge to an audience's collective sympathy.

-Gene SeymourFull Review

This is the sort of movie that gives 'chick flicks' a bad name.

-James BerardinelliFull Review

It's the kind of film that only a mother, which is to say my mother, would love.

-Robert WilonskyFull Review

A funny and touching story about the way we create families both by blood and by choice.

-Rex ReedFull Review

A low-key comedy in which characters always seem just one misstep away from full-out tragedy.

-Joe LeydonFull Review

With subtle laughs but solid emotional thrust, it will play very well with older audiences.

-John DeFore

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.

-Susan Tavernetti

More Critic Reviews

Critics

50%

Audience

44%

Critic Reviews