LNS Entertainment Review

In a movie business wondering what to release in the wake of the WTC/Pentagon atrocities, let us hope they are able to find films as funny, intelligent, beautifully acted and directed, and purposeful as MADEUP [Sister Films; directed by Tony Shalhoub; written and produced by Lynne Adams; starring Brooke Adams]. This moving, sharp, often hilarious story of arty sister Kate (Lynne Adams) making a documentary about aging movie star sister Elizabeth's (Brooke Adams) makeover, engages the theme of beauty as the primary measure of women's worth in this world, and manages to make its points subtly, surprisingly, and delightfully.

The formidable Kate, written and played superbly by Lynne Adams, is a middle-aged woman living on the outskirts of the artistic life in Boston, having dabbled unsuccessfully in painting, poetry, and sculpture. The documentary is her main chance for recognition and success, and she invades her sister's home and psychological landscape with the ferocity of a true believer whose options are running out, and a comic instinct for the jugular that only a sibling long accustomed to living in a successful sister's shadow could justify. Beautiful Brooke Adams , though she is meant to look past her prime, is if anything prettier, more charming, and altogether more splendid than the story demands, and her rediscovery of her own considerable sexual power is one of the movie's many delights. She is only too happy to help her sister get a real chance, and the love between them is palpable; but so are the complexities and difficulties of their feelings towards each other. She opens her home to her sister, agreeing to speak openly about her relationship with her daughter, played in a stunning debut by 15-year-old Eva Amurri. Ms. Amurri is Susan Sarandon's daughter, and has inherited her mother's allure and obvious intelligence, and is recognizably her daughter; yet under Tony Shalhoub's faultless direction, she has an authenticity and original beauty all her own. She doesn't want to go to college, considers it a waste of money that could be put to opening her own make-up studio. Elizabeth is afraid that her daughter will waste her life in dead-end job that sounds glamorous now, but will finally prove empty.

But Eva has a real gift for makeup, and thinks her mother's objections are simply snobbery. Elizabeth can't really muster the legitimate arguments for a liberal-arts education- that it will provide her daughter with critical skills with which to navigate her later life, teaching her judgment and providing tools to exercise her tastes and talents- and her daughter outmaneuvers her, talking her into a complete makeover, including a mechanical facelift involving glue, rubber bands, and a dangerously tight wig (all of which pay off marvelously in a later scene). In one of the film's early laughs, Elizabeth, looking in the mirror for the first time after her daughter has transformed her, bursts out: "I look like I'm in drag!"

But in fact she looks as stunning this way as she does with her 'grey-haired skunk' look, as Eva calls it. Elizabeth's husband (Gary Sinise, in an economical and absolutely real performance) has left her for a buxom blond called Molly (played by the wonderfully-named Light Eternity Eva wants her father to see her mother now that she's been transformed, convinced that 'if you had gotten your hair dyed, he never would have left you.' She's also interested in demonstrating her skill to her dad so he'll set her up in business.

Complications ensue. When Eva escorts Elizabeth to a restaurant, followed by the doc crew (superbly cast with unknowns) Tony Shalhoub appears as a restaurateur who 'has done a little acting' and who wants to become the love interest in the documentary, which at this point is evolving into a romantic comedy. Some of the movie's funniest moments are his, as he takes directions from Lynne on how to woo her sister, then imagines in a long series of reactions how to realize these notes. Shalhoub is one of our most effortless and expert comic actors, and his perfect pitch is infectious, obviously: the acting is uniformly superb. He will have an equally distinguished career as a director.

Without spoiling the plot, let it be said that Kate's struggles to make a film, and Elizabeth's struggles to create happiness for her daughter and herself, as well as the ambitions of Eva, Molly, and Tony, are all realized gloriously. Lynne Adam's finely crafted script is witty and serious by turns, and the spirit of acceptance and love that surrounds the whole enterprise spells success for this remarkable independent film.

Photography, sound, and all tech credits on this digital film are first-rate. It was edited on a desktop computer using FinalCut Pro; and demonstrates that films of high intelligence can be made for a low budget. MADE UP bodes well for the future of independent films.

Unrated.

-John Leone