Helen Hunt began working professionally when she was just 9
years old (appearing on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "The Bionic
Woman," among others), and she's never stopped: from her multiple-Emmy-winning role
on TV’s "Mad About You" to her work with Robert Zemeckis, Robert Altman and
James L. Brooks on the big screen, Hunt has proven herself to be a versatile, fascinating
actress. Now, with THEN SHE FOUND ME, Helen Hunt makes her directorial debut. The
Aero will screen this film, along with Hunt's Oscar-winning performance in AS GOOD AS
IT GETS and family favorite PROJECT X, in a two-night, in-person tribute to the
filmmaker.
Saturday, April 12 – 7:30 PM
Director Helen Hunt in Person!
Sneak Preview! THEN SHE FOUND ME, 2008, THINKFilm, 100 min. Dir.
Helen Hunt. A touching story of schoolteacher April Epner (Helen Hunt) and her
very unlikely path toward personal fulfillment. Following a separation from her husband (Matthew
Broderick) and the death of her adopted mom, April is contacted by her apparent birth
mother (Bette Midler), who turns out to be local talk show host Bernice Graves. As
Bernice tries to become the mother to April that she was never able to be, April seems to
find solace in the arms of the parent of one of her students (Colin Firth), only to
find that the mystery to life’s questions cannot be solved by a simple revelation. Discussion following with director/actress Helen Hunt.
Sunday, April 13 – 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
PROJECT X, 1987, 20th Century Fox, 108 min.
Director Jonathan Kaplan brings his sense of craftsmanship to this offbeat fantasy,
and turns what could have been a painfully cute tearjerker into a surprisingly nuanced
piece of escapist entertainment. Matthew Broderick plays a grounded Air Force pilot
who befriends some chimpanzees involved in a top-secret military project, only to become
enraged at what his own government is doing with the animals. Helen Hunt and William
Sadler are excellent alongside Broderick, as are some of the most impressive simian
actors in the history of movies. Exciting and sentimental in equally effective measures,
PROJECT X is one of those rare family films that doesn't insult the sensibilities of adult
viewers.
AS GOOD AS IT GETS, 1997, Sony
Repertory, 139 min. Director James L. Brooks (BROADCAST NEWS) displays his
gifts for witty dialogue, emotional range and complex characterizations in this story of
an obsessive-compulsive novelist (Jack Nicholson) and the people who force him out
of his anti social shell. Like Nicholson, Helen Hunt won an Oscar for her
performance in the film, as a waitress and single parent who becomes the dysfunctional
writer's unlikely love interest. Great supporting work from Greg Kinnear as
Nicholson's gay neighbor and a richly textured script by Mark Andrus make this essential
viewing.
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