THE MAKEOVER (2013)
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2016 David N. Butterworth

**1/2 (out of ****)

In a genial, gender-reversing take on George Bernard Shaw's timeless "Pygmalion," Julia Stiles plays elitist educational consultant Hannah
Higgins to David Walton's thick hick from the sticks Elliot Doolittle in
"The Makeover," a 2013 TV movie from the pen of C. Jay Cox, director David Gray, and the fine folks at Hallmark. After an unsuccessful run for
political office, education reformer Hannah sees an opportunity to have her agenda furthered on Capitol Hill by grooming "man of the people" Elliot, an affable, blue-collar Boston beer vendor, in her stead. Elliot has moderate ambitions himself, but Hannah doesn't exactly come clean on what she's about--he simply thinks she's agreed to help him talk proper (I'm a good
boy I am!). Camryn Manheim (TV's "The Practice") is engaging and effective
as Hannah's business partner, Colleen Pickering, but Frances Fisher ("Titanic"), as Elliot's flame-headed manipulative mother, should have gone down with the ship. They say clothes maketh the man but Walton still looks like a lovable schlub even after the obligatory grooming montage, despite
the fact that the actor is six-foot-four and went to Brown! I would have
cast Josh Duhamel in this myself; perhaps he wasn't available. As for
Julia Stiles, I'll watch her in any old thing--"The Makeover" pretty much constitutes that--and she doesn't disappoint, despite the flimsy and predictable material. She also looks great, thanks to costumer Johnetta
Boone, as does the city of Boston, where the film was so evidently shot.
Will the prim and proper Hannah turn the now-presentable Elliot into a
viable candidate for Congress and learn to feel a modicum of empathy for
those less fortunate than herself in the process? Did I mention that this
is a Hallmark Hall of Fame Production? Let's just say they're not known
for salacious twist endings.

--
David N. Butterworth
rec.arts.movies.reviews
butterworthdavidn@gmail.com

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