Then She Found Me (2007)

(On TV, April 2021) When I say that I’m intrigued by movies where actors become directors, I probably have to specify that the results so far have been more interesting than satisfying: It’s fascinating to see actors, often known for a specific persona, pick a specific project that speaks to them and presumably get the opportunity to do things their way rather than being directed by someone else. Alas, the track record of actors becoming directors is often disappointing: The films can be dull, meandering, and focused on performances rather than story or visual style. Actors often reach for small-scale drama and it can be a challenge for the films to distinguish themselves as being more than “the directorial debut of X.”  All of this applies to Then She Found Me, the directorial debut of Helen Hunt, who also produced, co-wrote and starred in the film as a middle-aged teacher who (let’s take a deep breath) is left by her milquetoast husband, sees her adoptive mother die, meets her biological mother (who’s also a locally famous talk show host), gets in a relationship with the father of a child in her class and discovers that she’s pregnant with her no-good husband. Adapted from a novel, the script is simultaneously busy and empty, with an accumulation of underwhelming events taking up the space of witty dialogue or any dramatic buildup. Not helped along by a not-meant-to-be-likable protagonist, the third act feels like a carnival of bad decisions motivated by an intrusive author rather than the resolution of the plot threads. At least Hunt is not too bad, and she has brought her friends along for the experience: Matthew Broderick is deliciously slimy, Colin Firth plays another one of his rock-solid romantic protagonists, and (most remarkably) Bette Midler has a substantial role without taking over the entire film in the way she could have. Then She Found Me is certainly watchable, although the lack of distinctiveness to the result is liable to leave anyone wondering if that’s all by the end of it. Which is a surprisingly common reaction to films hyped as directorial debuts of well-known actors.