BASED on the novel by Elinor Lipman, actress Helen Hunt's feature film directorial debut charts one woman's journey of self-discovery and the search for a biological mother.
With her 40th birthday fast approaching and her biological clock ticking louder then ever, New York schoolteacher April Epner (Hunt) is desperate to begin her own brood with husband Ben (Matthew Broderick).
Out of the blue, Ben sits April down and
confesses, "I don't want this life" – sending his wife into an emotional tailspin. Frank (Colin Firth), the divorced British father of one of her students, advises her to keep a cool head and, "Don't do anything until you've slept" – which is easier said than done.
The death of her adoptive mother (Lynn Cohen) threatens to tip April over the edge, then brassy talk-show host Bernice (Bette Midler) drops a further bombshell: she is her real mother.
Then She Found Me follows a predictable narrative trajectory, underplaying the turmoil wherever possible, but is enlivened by an eye-catching performance from Broderick as an immature fool.
Co-written by Hunt, Alice Arlen and Victor Levin, there are flashes of droll humour to temper the emotional heartbreak and a heartfelt sincerity in the treatment of the characters as they wrestle with life-altering decisions.
On limited release
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