Old Ties Bring Film to Maine (Portland Press)

Tuesday, August 12, 2003

Old ties bring film to Maine

By RAY ROUTHIER, Portland Press Herald Writer

What: Maine premiere of the film "Made-Up," featuring an appearance by stars Tony Shalhoub and Brooke Adams.

When: 5 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: The Movies on Exchange Street, Portland

How much: $4. Call 772-9600 or 772-8041.

What else: The film and its stars also will appear at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Eveningstar Cinema in Brunswick, but that show is sold out. At press time, the theater was trying to add a second show. Call 729-6796 or 729-5486.

Talk about tough first assignments. In his debut as a director, for the independent film "Made-Up," Tony Shalhoub also had to act in the movie.

If that double duty wasn't enough, Shalhoub had the delicate job of giving direction and acting tips to his wife and co-star, Brooke Adams.

"It was different," Shalhoub said in an interview from Los Angeles. "It was the only time I could get her to do what I wanted her to do in 11 years of marriage."

After finishing their independent film, Shalhoub and Adams have the daunting task of promoting it and distributing it on their own. The couple will bring the film to The Movies on Exchange Street in Portland on Wednesday for its Maine premiere, with showings at 5 and 7:30 p.m.

Shalhoub and Adams will be there to answer questions from the audience. On Thursday, the couple are scheduled to show the film at the Eveningstar Cinema in Brunswick at 7 p.m.

Shalhoub said he and Adams decided to bring the film to Maine because of his long-term ties to the state. Shalhoub graduated from the University of Southern Maine in 1977, began his professional acting career in Portland, and spoke at the USM graduation in May.

He and his wife spend summers on Martha's Vineyard off Cape Cod, so they figured it would be easy to make a trip to Maine to promote the film.

"Portland has played such a big part in my life and development, and I think Portland audiences are interested in independent films," said Shalhoub, who is 49. "It is a little daunting to distribute a film yourself, but hopefully we can creep it around from city to city and generate some interest."

Shalhoub's status as a bona fide TV star probably will help the film. He recently won a Golden Globe Award for playing an obsessive-compulsive detective in the USA network series "Monk." He also starred as Antonio, the Italian cab driver, on the NBC sitcom "Wings" from 1991-97. And he starred in the short-lived NBC sitcom "Stark Raving Mad," as a horror novelist.

He's been in many films during his career, including "Big Night," "That Championship Season" and "Men in Black."

Adams is also a veteran actor, with film credits including: "Days of Heaven," "Gas, Food, Lodging" and "The Dead Zone."

"Made-Up" also stars Adams' sister, Lynne Adams, who was a star of the daytime drama "The Guiding Light" for 10 years before deciding to write and produce plays. Her one-woman play, "Two Faced," was the inspiration for "Made-Up."

The comic film is dubbed a "mockumentary" because the story is seen through the eyes of character Kate James (Lynne Adams), who is making a documentary for her video class. She decides to focus on her sister Elizabeth (Brooke Adams), who was an actress before giving up her career to have a family.

Now that she's going gray and has gained a few pounds, her husband has left her and her daughter has become obsessed with appearance and wants to become a beautician. She also wants to do a make-over on her mother.

Shalhoub plays Max, who falls for the "made-up" Elizabeth. As the story plays out, and Kate videotapes it, she has visions of turning it into a Hollywood movie.

"It's a comedy, but not an insipid comedy," said Shalhoub. "It's not one of those formula films where you know right away these two people will end up together. Those are such a snore."

Shalhoub thinks the film is innovative and fresh because there was no studio control.

"We had no deadline, no one breathing down our necks," said Shalhoub. "I'd love to be able to do that again."

Shalhoub hopes a distribution company will pick it up and play it in larger cities if it does well in smaller markets like Portland.

The film will run at The Movies through next Tuesday.