Then She Found Me 2007

Sid Smith, Chicago Tribune: 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 Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: 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. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: A bizarre, overcooked broth. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Overall Then She Found Me, though earnest and clearly heartfelt, just feels tired; like Hunt's sad-eyed April, it lacks spark. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: The anxieties and angst of middle-class, middle-aged women remain rich, underexplored cinematic territory, but Hunt's instantly forgettable film does little to make this deep vein of cultural experience seem vital or exciting. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: What ought to be a bittersweet movie about a woman's momentary unraveling feels like a workout class: Cardio melodrama. Read more

Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times: Unexpectedly sharp, light and appealing; a testament to Hunt's skills behind the camera. Read more

Joe Leydon, Houston Chronicle: A low-key comedy in which characters always seem just one misstep away from full-out tragedy. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: 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. Read more

Clark Collis, Entertainment Weekly: 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. Read more

Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail: Helen Hunt deserves better. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: 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. Read more

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

David Denby, New Yorker: 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. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: 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. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Without strong guidance, the self-conscious lines make the characters sound like, well, characters rather than actual human beings. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: A smart little bittersweet comedy. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: A funny and touching story about the way we create families both by blood and by choice. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: 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. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: This is the sort of movie that gives 'chick flicks' a bad name. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: Where it really matters -- working with actors -- veteran filmmakers could learn from Hunt. Read more

Christy DeSmith, Minneapolis Star Tribune: From the looks of things, the actors were simply let loose as themselves. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Teresa Budasi, Chicago Sun-Times: 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. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, Time Out: Read more

David Fear, Time Out: Uncomfortable moments and near-nervous breakdowns transition into Oxygen-channel cuteness, which we're supposed to read as some sort of approximation of...messy real life? Not quite. Read more

Wally Hammond, Time Out: Hunt's film does soften the heart, not least because of its honesty and its sensitivity to some unfashionable dilemmas. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Hunt draws some good performances from the cast and wisely chose a low-key personal story for her directorial debut. Read more

Robert Wilonsky, Village Voice: It's the kind of film that only a mother, which is to say my mother, would love. Read more

John Anderson, Washington Post: Suffers from, if anything, a lack of pure confidence in the story, the actors or the audience. Read more