Made-Up

With the same sort of unabashed honesty that helped make "Something's Gotta Give" such a hit with the 40+ set is Emmy-winning "Monk" star Tony Shalhoub's directorial debut. This "middle age comedy" features his wife, the still-lovely Brooke Adams ("Days of Heaven"), as an actress in her 50's who laments both the fading of her looks and the social nether-strata she has been banished to by a youth-worshipping public. With a warm and deft emotional sense, writer Lynne Adams, who is Brooke's sister, provides Shalhoub's cast, which also includes Eva Amurri of "The Banger Sisters", Gary Sinise ("The Human Stain") and Shalhoub himself, with plenty of ripe material to explore. Without rising to the preachy "these kids today" levels to which Clint Eastwood often rises in celebrating age and wisdom, Shalhoub's love for not only his wife, but also telling a good story, shine through. Score: 3.5/5

I fail to see why this movie seems to be regarded as fresh and groundbreaking. The central concept is that the aging process and its impact on women's physical appearance, as well as society's expectations of how women should look as they age, can affect a woman's self-image, and even her self-worth.

Gee, there's a big revelation. Except, not. It seems to me that this idea has been done to death by everyone from filmmakers to sitcom writers to pop psychologists to Oprah.

For a film that alleges to be only 96 minutes long, it is unspeakably slow-paced and boring. I can't think of a movie that made me check my watch more frequently. The main characters, played by Brooke Adams & Lynne Adams, are both prone to long-winded, whiny speeches that seem self-indulgent and pointless, and make the characters nearly thoroughly unlikeable. Like a big, drawn-out, very-special-episode of "Thirtysomething." And oh, yeah, boring.

Also, I cannot imagine why this film is classified as a comedy. I didn't laugh once during the whole movie, and anyone who did needs to get out more. Sometimes, I could spot the strained dialogue or physical hijinks that were probably supposed to be funny, but just made me cringe. The rest of the time, I couldn't even guess where the "comedy" was supposed to be.

The only thing that makes this film unique (besides taking the audience to new heights of boredom--did I mention that it's boring?) is the "mockumentary" conceit, which is annoying at best and confusing at worst. Really, the only good thing I can say about it is that Eva Amurri, who plays Brooke Adams' daughter, is delightful.

As a 34-year-old woman, I am not that far removed from the concerns about aging and appearance that are debated ad nauseam by the main characters in this film. Unfortunately, everything they have to tell us about this subject, women already know.

Greetings again from the darkness. OK, I realize I am not the target market - being a middle aged white guy and all. But please tell me that women aren't so dense as to be confused at why they are not in a relationship when they make no attempt to be charming or likeable! Have been a fan of Brooke Adams since "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". In this movie, however, I am not sure who is less appealing, her or the aunt (played well by Lynne Adams). The shining star of the film is the very striking Eva Amurri playing Brooke's daughter. With wise choices, she can go places in the film world. The most intriguing role in the movie is played by the director, Tony Shaloub. Never can decide which he wants more, the thrill of acting or a relationship with a nice woman. Pretty interesting topic, not always handled the best. Shaloub shows a nice feel for camera angles and lighting. A little more warmth and charm and this could have been a real sleeper of a film.

I was sure glad I didn't pay to see this movie, because it was beyond doubt one of the slowest, most unclever attempts at an indie romantic comedy I've seen in a long while. The conceit at making a "mockumentary of the making of a mockumentary" failed to disguise the over-rehearsed, overly-melodramatic scenes between mom and daughter (who, big surprise, don't understand each other), ex-wife and Other Woman (oho, they have issues!) and former actress and schlub (naturally, they'll take to each other with time). The whole point of a mockumentary is to show things in a surprising way, and there were no surprises here, down to the final message that we already learned in "Freaky Friday" and "Pieces of April" (ie, "the kids are alright and we moms ain't bad either"). Aside from Shaloub, the actors fail to convince that they are something beyond ticketholders on the vanity-project train... Brooke Adams is particularly unlikeable as both a character and an actress in this film. What really got me, though, was the transposition of Hollywood youth-worship on Middle America; outside of Tinseltown, some women really do turn 50 looking 50, and they can accept it with the maturity their age has granted them. This movie lets us down because, like "Grease," it perpetuates the notion that all of a woman's relationship problems can be solved if she just fixes her makeup and puts on a push-up bra. The only redeeming quality in this film was Michael Wolfe's jazz piano, which unfortunately probably totals 90 seconds of the movie.

Although I am not a 40 something or even female, I loved this movie. It presents a fresh and honest take on women's issues, and at the same time provides some scrumptious slices of comedy....Shalhoub is unbelievable in this, maybe even better than in "Big Night"; he is the master of subtle humour imo. I liked what they did with the mockumentary angle; slightly frustrating (disorienting) for the first 10 minutes I'd say, but well worth hanging in there. The script is inventive and not predictable. There were one or two choices written for some of the supporting > characters that threw me a bit, but it didn't take away from the comedy, the sense of fun and artistry, or the moral statement that was being made.

This low-budget movie just had some kind of magic, integrity, brazenness, and uniqueness that really entertained me on multiple levels. Go into it expecting something a little different from the usual Hollywood/TV formula and you won't be disappointed.