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SXSW 2008: 'Then She Found Me'

1:14 PM Sun, Mar 09, 2008 | Permalink |
Stephen Becker

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The marquee film at the Paramount on Saturday night was Helen Hunt's directorial debut, Then She Found Me. Why should you care? Well, for one, it will open the AFI Dallas Film Festival in a few weeks. And another reason is: it's a pretty good movie.
In addition to directing, Ms. Hunt adapted the screenplay and stars as a woman with a whole life's worth of drama coming at her at once. First her new husband decides married life isn't for him. Then her adopted mother dies. And if that weren't enough, she's contacted by the birth mother (a show-stealing Bette Midler) she never knew who all the sudden wants a relationship with her daughter.

When the father (Colin Firth) of one of the students in the school she teaches at comes on to her, it just becomes too much to deal with.
So why is one person's trainwreck of a life so entertaining to watch? Answer: most everyone in the 30 and older crowd will be able to relate to at least one element of the chaos. These characters have lived some life and have pasts that affect their presents -- it's not the stuff that most romantic comedies are built on, but it is the stuff you find in real life.
Ms. Hunt, who is coming to Dallas when the film shows at AFI, will be the subject of a filmmaker conversation Sunday at 3 that I will try and check out. I'll report back later.

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SXSW 2008: 'Then She Found Me'

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