Then She Found Me

Play trailer

Then She Found Me

R

2008

1h 40m

Romance

Comedy

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

50%

Tomatometer

116 Reviews

44%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Life deals a few heavy blows to April (Helen Hunt), a 39-year-old schoolteacher. Though she is desperate for a baby, her husband (Matthew Broderick) has decided to end their brief marriage. April barely has a chance to recover from the shock, when Bernice (Bette Midler), a brassy and selfish TV personality, barges into her life, claiming to be her mother.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

A threadbare story anchored by strong performances, Then She Found Me is a mostly successful directorial debut by Helen Hunt.

Read Critics Reviews

Carina Chocano

Los Angeles Times

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

Rated: 3.5/5

Oct 18, 2008

Full Review

Derek Malcolm

London Evening Standard

Everyone acts decently and you have to praise Hunt for her tenacity. But this suffers from some fairly dire cinematography and a manufactured air that prevents the watcher connecting to the whole thing.

Rated: 2/5

Sep 19, 2008

Full Review

Larushka Ivan-Zadeh

Metro Newspaper (UK)

For all its half-hearted attempts to trip expectation, Hunt's adaptation of Elinor Lipman's novel is ultimately a romcom wherein themes of adoption and betrayal come with too much sensitive, careworn soul-searching.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 19, 2008

Full Review

Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

Quietly sneaks up on you when you least expect it and delivers a powerful emotional punch.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jul 6, 2019

Full Review

Marcianne Miller

Bold Life (Hendersonville, NC)

In her feature film directorial debut, actress Helen Hunt delivers a solid, thoughtful drama marked by terrific performances from a perfectly cast circle of friends.

Aug 26, 2018

Full Review

Brian D. Johnson

Maclean's Magazine

The poor woman [Hunt] deserves a better movie.

Dec 15, 2017

Full Review

Read all reviews

M

It wasn't for me. Not a comedy. Strong cast

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

10/19/25

Full Review

Dena B

Tough situations sets the perfect stage for broken-hearts to get a 2nd chance at love. Well written, directed and delivered.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/09/23

Full Review

Chris M

This could have been slow but good. But it shows all the funny scenes in the trailer. The pacing is dead slow and I doubt the orphanage would have found parents for her the same day she gets dropped off for her to read the names, let alone commit it to memory enough to remember enough to find it. It was probably just a quick glance. The characters are very likable but the story and pacing just doesn't work for me. Not a complete waste of time, just not for me and I can't recommend it. And again, movies should not be rated-R just because of language. Kid's general don't encounter sex, nudity, graphic violence and I mean graphic violence or hard drugs in their day to day lives. Unless you live in Amish country then kids hear "bad" language probably EVERY day. It's bullshit.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

10/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Is it a comedy? I would not know. This is a drama told lightly with some funny moments. Simple, yet engaging. Realistic yet entertaining. Every character in it is likable sans Mathew Broderick('s). I do not know how many directing Helen Hunt did prior to this but she produced a fine work. Recommended.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Nice enough way to spend the evening and a great cast!

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

great actors, horrible plot. never again

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Helen Hunt

Director

Helen Hunt

April

Colin Firth

Frank

Bette Midler

Bernice

Matthew Broderick

Ben

Ben Shenkman

Freddy

Smart People

50%

39%

Smart People

Watchlist

Young Adult

80%

49%

Young Adult

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Young Adult

The Good Night

30%

33%

The Good Night

Watchlist

Adventureland

89%

61%

Adventureland

Watchlist

Cyrus

80%

53%

Cyrus

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Life deals a few heavy blows to April (Helen Hunt), a 39-year-old schoolteacher. Though she is desperate for a baby, her husband (Matthew Broderick) has decided to end their brief marriage. April barely has a chance to recover from the shock, when Bernice (Bette Midler), a brassy and selfish TV personality, barges into her life, claiming to be her mother.

Director: Helen Hunt
Producer: Pamela Koffler, Katie Roumel, Christine Vachon, Helen Hunt, Connie Tavel
Screenwriter: Alice Arlen, Victor Levin, Helen Hunt
Distributor: ThinkFilm
Production Co: Killer Films, John Wells Productions, Blue Rider Pictures
Rating: R (Some Sexual Content|Language)
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 25, 2008, Limited
Release Date (DVD): Sep 2, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.7M
Runtime: 1h 40m

Most Popular at Home Now