THEN SHE FOUND ME
I advise you to watch an early, funny Woody Allen comedy instead, or even reassert yourself with BEACHES, heck anything’s more life affirming than this.
Directed by: Helen Hunt Written by: Alice Arlen, Victor Levin, Helen HuntFrom a novel by Elinor Lipman Starring: Helen Hunt, Colin Firth, Bette Milder, Matthew Broderick, Lynn Cohen, Ben Shenkman Film will recieve a limited U.S. release starting from May 2nd, 2008 Review by Oliver Pfeiffer
rating: 1
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If youre a fan of films like In Her Shoes, Rumor Has It, The Holiday and warm fluffy Brit comedies like Bridget Jones' Diary and Love Actually then you might extract something fairly minuscule out of this new comedy/drama from Helen Hunt. But for the rest of us prepare to die a slow-burning portentous death of gargantuan proportions. No longer complacent with stealing the Best Actress Oscar from poor old Judi Dench some 10 years ago, Hunt has to now try and prove herself all over again by releasing this hopelessly dull and depressing directorial debut. Adapting from a novel by Elinor Lipman, Hunt puts herself in the shoes of April Epner, a New York childrens schoolteacher on the brink of 40, who has just got hitched to Jewish middle-aged mummys boy Matthew Broderick (looking seriously lost, dull and grey), and is yearning for parenthood. In the space of 20 minutes her marriage breaks up, she meets another love interest, (call in crusty old colleague Colin Firth) her foster mother dies and her real mother (Bette Midler) - who gave her up for adoption at birth wants to meet her up for coffee and try desperately to reconcile after a life-long absence. But hey get with the program, this is the movies and this sort of thing happens all the time, what do you expect slow burning suspense? Well dont expect life-affirming entertainment, because youre looking in the wrong place. Unless youre a fan of As Good As It Gets but without the dark humour, Jack Nicholson or a half decent script. Then She Found Me is all about the rebuilding of the family unit, starting from scratch and its also about forgiveness in extreme circumstances and hope in difficult times. Hunt gives us the same cringe-worthy, screw-your-face-up-whenever-possible routine she dished up in that said film, but now with added obnoxious glee. You see April has that annoying attribute of looking into other characters eyes and repeating their last few words in that full on patronising I can judge you! manner. And to make matters worse she is even considered gorgeous by Firths dribbling brit git, even though the shockingly frail and lifeless Hunt looks about as sexy on screen as a scarecrow in drag. Hunt as a director also brings out the worst in some of the best actors too. Colin Firth is judge dreary, and is just there to spill out random, pointless two-worded short-bursts of advice to April like hes bloody Ricki Lake. Then Bette Midler shows up in an effort to inject a little life into the piece, but manages to be about as refreshing as old Mother Hubbard, and appears to be suffering from an almighty robotic hang-over from The Stepford Wives remake. Its difficult to know what exactly Hunt is trying to accomplish here. Is it an existential comedy that melds Woody Allen egocentricity with Bergman pessimism? Or a comedy/drama that is trying desperately to become the next Bridget Jones adventure? What is certain is this has to be the most predictable, cliché ridden, drab and unscrupulous script in a long time and one where you get toe-curdling lines like You move me! and Your looking at me? then Yes, I am But I am with a man who sees me! spooned and spurred in for extra measure. If only the male characters could see what April is like behind their backs: she spends her time humming and haring about one guy, ends up fucking him, before humming and haring about the other, then fucking him too before returning back to the original one again like a proper slap and tickle trooper! Apparently this film was applauded at the Palm Springs Festival, so perhaps I am missing something, but I am pretty sure I didnt witness an ounce of originality and the only time I cracked up or cried was when Salman Rushdie suddenly turned up a few times in a hospital pretending to be a family doctor (presumably checking to see if the rest of the cast still has a pulse). I advise you to watch an early, funny Woody Allen comedy instead, or even reassert yourself with BEACHES, heck anythings more life affirming than this. THEN SHE FOUND ME currently does not have a U.K. release date. The film will roll out on limited release in the U.S. beginning in April.