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The Hollywood Reporter |
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Made-Up By David Hunter SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- On the heels of the opening of "Big Bad Love," here is another successful directorial debut by an actor working with his spouse behind and in front of the camera. Indeed, "Made-Up" is a bittersweet comedic frolic for a talented foursome: director and supporting player Tony Shalhoub; lead actresses, producers and real-life sisters Brooke and Lynne Adams; and the up-and-coming Eva Amurri. Seeking distribution, it has the right stuff to play in limited release and move on to wider exposure in post-theatrical sessions. Winner of a top award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where it world-premiered Friday, "Made-Up" is one of the first shot-on-digital-video comedies primarily aimed at women that also falls into the "mockumentary" genre. While the presence of a three-guy crew both capturing every image in the film and becoming players in the unfolding story leads to several amusing sequences, the conceit is not meant to trick the audience but serves as a smart way to tell this particular tale. … With "Made-Up," the sisters Adams and Shalhoub (who is married to Brooke) have taken a playfully irreverent approach to middle-age rites of passage that comes with many opportunities for the performers to self-consciously "act." Making an exciting, quite promising step up from smaller roles, 16-year-old Amurri has charisma and good looks to spare. Appearing in only a few scenes, Gary Sinise is coolly in tune with his character of Elizabeth's ex-husband. Jim Issa and Lance Krall, who with Conover emerged from an Atlanta comedy improv group, make solid contributions as the other two members of the film crew, while newcomer Eternity (her real name, by the way) is memorable as the reluctant "home wrecker." |
