Review of Then She Found Me (2007) by Mimi S — 22 Jun 2014

Then She Found Me suffers from a poor and messy story line but the performances from it's leads are strong. Directed by and starring Helen Hunt, the film is about a 39 year old woman, April (Helen Hunt) who is desperate for a baby. Her life is further thrown in turmoil when her husband (Matthew Broderick) leaves her and her adoptive mother dies. April receives further shock when she is contacted by her birth mother, Bernice (Bette Midler). The story line is a bit chaotic with too much focus on different things and towards the end the whole story got a bit frustrating and stupid. I think that this is primarily a film which relates more to middle aged women as it's all about marriage break up and wanting to have children. As a 22-year-old girl I felt that I couldn't really relate to it on a personal level. However this is still an enjoyable and pleasant watch and the good cast more than make up for it. Bette Middler is absolutely fabulous and electric as April's extroverted and self-centred birth mother. Bette Middler really makes it worth the watch.

I think the film would have been better if it had just focused on relationship between birth mother and daughter instead of a messy love triangle between Helen Hunt, Matthew Broderick and Colin Firth. Another fault is that the film doesn't focus on April's grief of her adoptive mother and we're just catapulted into a new mother/daughter relationship without exploring the past one much. Despite the ludicrous love triangle, Colin Firth and Helen Hunt have good chemistry. Colin Firth is likeable, humorous and sympathetic as the divorcee dad who falls for April. On the whole this was a pleasant film and a decent watch, but the story is a bit all over the place.

Grade: B-.