Review: Hanging Up (2000)

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Hanging Up

Rating

Director

Diane Keaton

Screenplay

Delia Ephron, Nora Ephron (Book: Delia Ephron)

Length

1h 34m

Starring

Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton, Lisa Kudrow, Walter Matthau, Adam Arkin, Duke Moosekian, Ann Bortolotti, Cloris Leachman, Maree Cheatham, Myndy Crist, Libby Hudson, Jesse James, Edie McCLurg, Tracee Ellis Ross, Celia Weston

MPAA Rating

PG-13

Review

Is there truly any such thing as a functional family? With dysfunction making up a great majority of family relationships lately, a film about the dysfunction of a nuclear family has very little impact. However, the movies often reflect the times they are made in. “Hanging Up” is the story of three sisters and their relationship with each other, their father and their mother.

Meg Ryan plays Eve, a traditional Ryan neurotic who’s been trapped taking care of her father for several years while her sisters make their own ways in life. Her sister Georgia (Diane Keaton) has made a living as a successful magazine editor and entrepreneur. Her other sister Maddy (Lisa Kudrow) is an actress who’s finally making the big time as the latest cast member of a popular soap opera.

Their biggest enemy is their Alzheimer’s-ridden father Lou (Walter Matthau) whose love of women is almost as powerful as his lack of memory. Eve places Lou in a hospital where he can be taken care of and must deal with his constant desire to return to his former home, which now belongs to a gay couple.

“Hanging Up” has too many subjects going on at one time. First is the idea that Alzheimer’s disease is a pervasive and potentially destructive disease. It’s corrosion of the mind causes Lou to do ludicrous things and cause serious heartache for his family.

The second issue is Eve’s need to reconcile her feelings for her father and for her mother, who left long before. Not only must she deal with her father, but she must also deal with the fact that she has been the only person taking care of her father while her sisters are out seeking a good life.

With such acting talent, you would expect “Hanging Up” to be one of the year’s best ensembles. Unfortunately, the interaction is so limited that you find yourself not caring whether they get along at all. Ryan plays the same character she has many times, which makes things a little trite. Keaton has a little bit of her “Annie Hall” quality that she’s carried into nearly every role she’s done. Her modestly stirring speech near the end is as close to great as she gets in the entire film.

Matthau hasn’t given a terrific performance in a long while. His entrapment in the “Grumpy Old Men” style has forced him into a non-traditional staid performance. Kudrow, however, is the only one who has shades of originality. She’s plaid all forms of stupid, but somehow manages to make them all seem different. Unfortunately, with all of the similar performances in “Hanging Up,” there’s no cause for originality, but it’s a welcome escape in an otherwise bland film.

“Hanging Up” has plenty to say, but gets bogged down with cliché. The most important thing to take from the film is that regardless of what success you may find in life, you should never forget where you came from. Family is obviously one of the most important things, even if there’s bad blood between you. You must reconcile the problems so that one day, when you have a family of your own, your capabilities of dealing with the most disastrous problems will be more than adequate.

Awards Prospects

Had this been a better movie or released later in the year, Kudrow would again be a potential nominee, but there’s just too much riding against this movie.