Reviewed by Neil Davey
Stars Helen Hunt, Colin Firth, Bette Midler, Matthew Broderick, Lynn Cohen, Ben Shenkman, Floanne Ankah, Salman Rushdie
Written by Alice Arlen, Victoria Levin & Helen Hunt,
based on the novel by Eleanor Lipman
Certification UK 15 | US R
Runtime 100 minutes
Directed by Helen Hunt
Helen Hunt’s directorial debut is a strangely downbeat affair but one that could almost be viewed as a romantic comedy. Because there is comedy here albeit the kind that arises naturally at the least expected moments and, while the romance is fractured and difficult, it's all the more believable for it.
On the negative side, And Then… may avoid the feelgood, huggy notions and the rom-com clichés, but it does seem to be going through a check list of the dour and the worthy. Mid-life crisis? Tick. Difficult relationships? Tick. Maternal issues? Tick. A chance to be terribly serious and not wear make-up? Tick. Biological click ticking like a ticky thing? Tick tick and tick some more…
As well as directing Hunt stars as pallid, grey New York schoolteacher April Epner. In short succession, April loses her adoptive mother to old age and her husband Ben (Broderick) to just-not-being-in-love-anymore. With her biological clock clanking rather than ticking and April clearly not getting any younger — and well done Hunt for being so light on the protective make-up — April has several issues to address, concerning maternity and love. The former is covered by the ‘return’ of her adoptive mother Bernice (Midler), a local chat show host with a wealth of homespun advice. The latter is covered by a tentative affair with Frank (Firth), the awkward, baggage-laden, divorcing father of one of her young students.
Although the situation feels like an old TV movie or one of those ‘real life tales’ in 60p magazines, the melodramatic extremes are, for the most part, easy to overlook, thanks to the quality of the performances. Hunt and Midler are, of course, excellent because Hunt always is and Midler gets to do maternally blousy which she could do with her eyes closed. However, the revelations are Broderick, who convinces utterly as the immature ex and, in particular, Firth who brings a believably barely contained bitterness to his customary girl-baiting brooding. Ultimately, it doesn’t pack the emotional punch it perhaps ought to, and Hunt clearly has lots to learn behind the camera but, as filmmaking debuts go, this is a pretty good one.