Then She Found Me

Then She Found Me marked the directorial debut of Helen Hunt, who helped adapt the script from the Elinor Lippman novel for this 2007 release. Oh, and she also stars in the comedic drama as 39-year-old April Epner, a childless Kindergarten teacher who is painfully attuned to her ticking biological clock.With the weight of the world on her shoulders, the frail-looking star delivered an honest portrait of people struggling with all of the obstacles life throws their way. While it finds humor in the ordinary, "Then She Found Me" never deviates from the issues being confronted, allowing all of the tension and difficulty of life to affect the characters in awkward bursts of rage, passion, love and loss, just the way they should.

April marries her immature boyfriend Ben (Matthew Broderick) as the film opens, only to divorce soon after when he realizes he can't handle married life. After 10 months of trying to conceive, April's adoptive mother Trudy Epner (Lynn Cohen) tells her to adopt. Despite Trudy telling her there is no difference, the plain and passive New York teacher is adamant about giving birth to a child, calling into question Trudy's parenting when she remembers how her mother looked at her naturally-born brother Freddy (Ben Shenkman). One day after Ben leaves April, her mother dies. However, every ending brings a new beginning for April, a motif of the film, as her biological mother Bernice Graves (Bette Midler) seeks her out one day after Trudy's funeral. Amidst the whirlwind of emotions all of this evokes, April is also falling back in love, just not with Ben. Frank (Colin Firth), the British father of one of April's students, is also recently separated and sparks a relationship with his fellow wounded bird. Frank is upfront about his emotions, but his temper forces him to take walks to blow off steam, something he does a lot of when Ben crops back up after April discovers the quickie breakup sex they had before his departure left her pregnant.

While Frank and April's relationship grows, Bernice, a bombastic morning talk show host, charms her way into her daughter's life, while her lies about who her father is and why she gave her up stunt the relationship. In the process of discovering her lineage and Bernice's story, the truth becomes difficult to handle.

Midler is a storm of energy and light, portraying the perfect foil to April's reserved and closed off personality. Additionally, Midler's glamorous life and exuberant style works against the purposefully unglamorous characters that surround her, including April, Frank and Ben, none of whom live unrealistically for their positions. Ben even moves back in with his mother after leaving his wife. This helps to ground the movie in some sense of authenticity.

While there are cliched scenarios, Firth, Midler and Hunt add the necessary depth in their performance to set this film apart from the conventions of all three genres "Then She Found Me" touches--drama, romance and comedy. It is ultimately Hunt's cautious stirring of these complimentary colors that leaves audiences with a satisfyingly dramatic shade of gray.