good back-story, and good acting

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Hanging Up (2000): Dir: Diane Keaton / Cast: Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton, Lisa Kudrow, Walter Matthou, Adam Arkin: Comedy about communication where three sisters contact mainly by phone. Oldest sister Diane Keaton is too busy working on her own magazine. Youngest sister Lisa Kudrow stars in a failing soap opera. Meg Ryan plays middle sister who is left to care for their senile father. Ryan is married and has a son but she also has a bad driving record. Her conversation with her husband about her third driving mishap is an unnecessary subplot. Keaton does a fine job directing despite the limitations in production and obvious conclusion. What does work for her is the casting of three effective leads including herself. Ryan is sympathetic as a woman who cares for her father yet is exhausted from the stress of her own lifestyle. Keaton is effective as a high profile business woman whose public relations career keep her from confronting real issues. Most of her scenes are through phone conversations with a frustrated Ryan. Kudrow is seen briefer but effective. Walter Matthou is given the funniest lines as their father whose fate is obvious, but he steals his moments. Other roles are cardboard and more or less support the leads and do nothing for the formula driven screenplay. It is a comedy about communication and relationships for father / daughters. Others may wish to hang up on it. Score: 4 ½ / 10

Telemarketer irritation--that's the feeling I had when I watched Hanging Up, an almost cartoonishly clichéd "woman's movie." Diane Keaton's direction of this mess is so incompetent that I hope she never stands behind a camera again. The movie fails on every level--it bored my wife and daughter (and it's only because I'm anal about finishing movies that I sat through 95 minutes of Hell; they went to bed).This was Walter Matthau's last movie, and it hurts to see such a premiere talent being wasted (although his toupee looks as if it could live on). Meg Ryan appears to have lost weight for Hanging Up (if that's possible) and seems to be carrying the mass of the world on her shoulders, physically dissipating in front of our eyes while wearing one paper-thin muscle shirt after another. Looking scrawny and bra-less isn't appealing to anyone.Okay, enough for the nastiness. This really is a waste of film stock. Whatever BIG messages it has about sibling rivalry and familial relationships and keeping your accident from your insurance company are lost in Keaton's attempt to play cute and/or sweet (the dog and the pill; the Iranian mom).The movie's called Hanging Up. My suggestion is to take the phone off the hook before the opening credits.

Only saw the end of this, but it's interesting in the dynamics and relationships of three good actresses, and the last performance of venerable Walter Matheau, playing, as always, a curmudgeon. There's something courageous and amazing about an actor playing a dying person just before they die- art merging with life, like in On Golden Pond (spent a day on that lake-Squam, and it is hauntingly restful). The movie has both fluffy and frivolous relationships between the sisters and heavy scathing honest transgressions between Meg and her drunk Dad.It was timely to run across this now, because in a further intersection of life and art, I have to call the nursing home now, and see if my mother, 5 days without food or water, is still with us.

HANGING UP, in my opinion, is an excellent comedy that will make you laugh, cry, and feel good. Despite the fact that he was a little crazy, I believe that Lou (Walter Matthau) was a funny guy. I especially loved him in the flashback to (Jesse James) fifth birthday party. If you want to know why, you'll have to see the movie for yourself. As far as I can see, due to the usage of the "f" word two or three times, this should have been rated R. Other than that, this was a great film. Seeing Eve (Meg Ryan), Georgia (Diane Keaton), and Maddy (Lisa Kudrow) was very touching. In conclusion, I highly recommend this excellent comedy that will make you laugh, cry, and feel good to any Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton, Lisa Kudrow, or Walter Matthau fan who hasn't seen it. You're in for a smashing good time, so go to the video store, rent it or buy it, kick back with a friend, and watch it.