By Erik Lundegaard
Special to The Seattle Times
 
'Made-Up' distribution deal eludes Shalhoub

There's an inevitable double-meaning in "Made-Up," an independent film directed by Tony Shalhoub (an actor familiar to fans of "Big Night" and the TV show "Monk") having its Northwest premiere at Bellevue's Galleria 11.

The mockumentary begins with generational conflict. Sara Tivey (Eva Amurri) wants to forgo college to open a beauty salon, but her retired actress mother, Elizabeth James (Brooke Adams, Shalhoub's wife), is horrified. "I was prepared for a lot of things," she tells the camera. "Heroin addict, nymphomaniac. ... But a cosmetologist?"

Movie review ***
 

"Made-Up," with Brooke Adams, Lynne Adams, Tony Shalhoub, Eva Amurri. Directed by Tony Shalhoub from a script by Lynne Adams. 96 minutes. Unrated; adult themes, mild language. Galleria 11.
 
 
As Elizabeth sees it, beauty products are simply a way to please men — something she hasn't been interested in doing since her husband, Duncan (Gary Sinise), left her for a younger woman. But for her daughter's sake — and the sake of her sister Kate (played by Brooke's real-life sister and the film's screenwriter, Lynne Adams), who's making a documentary about generational conflict — she agrees to a makeover. Against her better judgment, she's wowed by the results.

Meanwhile, Kate manipulates events to make her documentary more interesting. She encourages the made-up Elizabeth into seeing Duncan again and into dating Max (Shalhoub), a soft-spoken restaurateur with an acting bent who believes he's part of an improv movie. When miscommunication leads to the creation of "Betsy," Elizabeth's younger (i.e., made-up) sister, Max accepts it after a beat or two. "I thought she was being two women," he tells us later, "because of budget constraints."

In other words, when the camera starts rolling, what's real and what's made-up? Or as the boom operator says in youth-speak, "Everybody wanted to be real, you know? Like, it's hard to be real."

Parts of "Made-Up" seem mannered in that Woody Allen fashion — backstory presented as dialogue. Indeed, with the clash between successful and failed siblings, the film could've been called "Hannah and Her Sister."

But the filmmakers do a fine job of focusing on the difficulties of aging in a youth-obsessed culture (a montage of Elizabeth cringing while viewing her aged face on film is quite touching). At the same time they don't take it all too seriously. There's a light, humorous touch here, and the characters continue to surprise.

Plus the ensemble cast is great. Gary Sinise's Duncan may be the most real average man put on film. The young camera crew is absolutely hilarious and Amurri imbues Sara with a wonderful combination of down-to-earth and kooky.