Rating: 
Summary: Not bad, but something is missing here.
Review: This movie got a lot of bad reviews from all over the world. Naturally, I got curious to see how these skilled actresses (Diane Keaton also directed), and screenwriters could make such a bad movie - if it was as bad as the critics thought, that is. After seeing the movie I have mixed feelings for it. All cast members are quite good, especially the three female stars and Walter Matthau, as their senile father, Lou. It feels a little sad to see him, however. He looks so old and makes his bacon-eating character in "Grumpy Old men", from 1993 look like a healthy young man. But he makes a good performance in this movie, which became his last. Meg Ryan plays Eve, the middle sister who takes most care of their dad and visits him at the hospital, while her sisters focus on their careers. The oldest sister, Georgia (Keaton) is working more than ever on the fifth anniversary edition of her magazine, "Georgia", which she named after herself, and Maddy (Kudrow) is an actress in a soap opera. What this movie lacks the most is a strong plot. It focuses on the lives of the three sisters, mostly on Eve's. It has a number of flashback scenes that make the movie feel slightly confusing. The characters aren't interesting enough to compensate for the weak plot.
This is a comedy, but compared to for example "When Harry Met Sally", written by Nora Ephron, who helped her sister, Delia, write the screenplay for this movie, it's quite humorless. There are few funny scenes. The lack of humor makes it feel more like a too lightweight drama. However, the movie does show that when one family member takes on too much responsibility, it often leads to conflict. To sum up, Hanging Up is not a totally bad movie. However, it should be much funnier and more touching than it is. But it has some good acting performances, and whoever likes any of the actors or actresses should give it a try, they're all doing a good job.
Rating: 
Summary: Hang This One Out To Dry
Review: Some movies, like the recent K-PAX have a lot of genius buried in a poor outside theme, but other movies have simply no soul and their only purpose is to generate money for it's studio, Diane Keaton's Hanging Up is one of those type of films.
Movies like this should not be allowed to exist, because they shamlessly manipulate the viewer into a stupor and spending money on a terrible film.
Diane Keaton, and the late Walter Matthau do turn in good performances (A shame that this was his last film) but the real failling is the absoloutley terrible script by Delia and Nora Ephron who've made bad movies before(Mixed Nuts, anyone?) It expects the audience to cry and we don't, and the thing is we don't feel anything for the characters, anything at all!
Rating:
Summary: "Hang up" ... and connect
Review: I don't know what upset so many people about this movie - it's light, not deep, so what else is new in movies? OK, Diane Keaton is waaay too old to play the older sister of Lisa Kudrow, but hey, this happens all the time in theatre, remember the musical "Peter Pan"? Meg Ryan and Lisa Kudrow and Diane Keaton are all fun and pretty to watch. Problems with the movie are, as many have pointed out, problems with the script: why have a FOREIGN woman be the one with the wisdom? I suspect the simple reason is, "that's how it happened", because it has dramatic implications that don't seem to have been thought through (Americans are not only maniacally busy, they're also too STUPID and cut off from their roots to know what to do about it). OK, so the Iranian doctor has a cute accent, but is that reason enough to put him AND his mother in a movie? Yes, it's a Meg Ryan vehicle, but I didn't feel that was a drawback. Walter Matthau is funny as always, playing the irascible, unpredictable and irreverent old grouch. But his character has little depth, he's just a foil for the daughters (and I didn't buy the scene where he gatecrashes his grandson's birthday party); he doesn't change or grow, repent or regret anything; age just withers him. The movie is light and what else could a director do with this material but make it a laugh-and-cry comedy? Parents age, grow dotty, and die; when they do, we tend to forget all the bad things and recall only the good; and death brings people together. Nothing earth-shattering there. The real theme of the movie is not aging parents or death, but dealing with stress. We're MEANT to feel irritated by all the phone calls, and stressed by trying to keep track of who is talking to who. Some people feel bound by duty and burn themselves out because they don't know how to say "no", and Meg is one such person. A very funny scene is when Meg finally twigs, and goes round the house ripping all the phones out - it didn't occur to her that she could simply just stop answering them! And we never see the kind old woman again. Do we really have to see all 3 sisters' faces crying at the death-bed of their father? It would have been just as effective to have them crying off-screen, but no! we have to be shown that ALL 3 are GREAT actresses because they can all equally cry effectively on camera. And Lisa Kudrow has demonstrated time and again in "Friends" that she is excellent at expressing pain and grief with just her face and her body; she doesn't need to be given explicit lines like "I really feel grief and hurt to see my father die". And why did they have to wear black all the time? Except at the very end when only Meg wore white, why? To show that she has "hung up" but the others haven't learned that life-lesson yet? Or to show that she is the one that brought
them all together? It jarred a bit because the final scene is all about "sisterhood" and "having fun together", where egos are finally laid to rest (temporarily). The final shot, drawing back from the 3 sisters goofing around, was very effective - too effective, I felt, for the rest of the movie. It seemed to suggest, "and one day, these 3 laughing spirits will also pass away, as their father has done", but of course that kind of perspective would have jarred the fluffy, light tone.
Rating: 
Summary: Give the Girls a Break!
Review: Diane Keaton's much maligned "Hanging Up" shows us once again what a fine director of actors she is especially after her stunning debut in "Unstrung Heroes." Has Andie MacDowell ever had a better vehicle in which to show her dramatic talents? "Hanging Up" boasts a great cast including Meg Ryan as the "motherly" middle sister and Lisa Kudrow as the needy, clingy actress younger sister and of course Diane Keaton herself as the oldest, career-obsessed sister. Walter Matthau plays the almost-senile, maybe alcoholic dad, who one character describes as "commotion man..but not as bad as the Ayotollah though..." In fact the character who makes this comment is in the scene that epitomizes Keaton's talent with actors. In this scene Meg Ryan has a quiet chat with "Mrs Kunundar," mother of the man whose car Ryan has hit, and the scene develops into what is called a "lightbulb" moment that propells the rest of the movie. Notice the connection these two have in this scene and remember that both are strangers to the other. Keaton elicits empathy and sympathy out of nothing really except concentrting on the faces and voices of the two chracters. Heartbreaking. The biggest weakness I think though is the mother of the girls played by Cloris Leachman who is not given a reasonable excuse, script-wise, to desert her children. Leachman's speech about "the motherhood thing not taking," is weak at best and deplorable at worst. The interplay between Keaton, Ryan and Kudrow is big fun though and Matthau plays his role to the hilt.
Rating:
Summary: Hanging Up
Review: Bad connection. Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton, and Lisa Kudrow play three quarreling sisters who live most of their boring lives on their cell phones. This movie was poorly written by Nora Ephron, and BADLY directed by Diane Keaton. All anyone did during the film was fight. The movie goes for cute overeal, but the attempts to be cute miss by a long shot. This film is such a travesty to all dramas. It's just plain BORING. I really was ready to turn it off, but my conscience got the better of me. I'm sorry I watched the rest. I'm so sorry I wasted my money renting this DVD. Thank god I didn't buy it! I agree with all the critics who gave this a negative review. This film, in my opinion was not only the worst film of 2000, but the worst, and the most boring film since As Good As It Gets. Avoid! Eve (Meg Ryan) has just put her father (Walter Matthau) in a hospital because he is dying. her sisters Georgia (Diane Keaton),who is a celebrity magazine editor, and Maddy (Lisa Kudrow), who is a soap opera star, are no help whatsoever. We go into the sisters' pasts, and see that their father was an alchoholic, and their mother could care less. The worst memory was when their father ruined Eve's son's birthday party. But through true sisterhood, and the spirit of family, the sisters are able to forgive and forget. Overall Grade: F (3+)
Rating:
Summary: Hang Up, Disconnect, and Change Your Number!
Review: Movie Summary: Eve's drunk of a father is dying. Her estranged mother couldn't care less and her two self absorbed sisters aren't much help. My Opinion: This is a stinker of a movie. It is misconceived right from the start. Is it a comedy or is it a drama? It's not very funny, and there is nothing redeeming to the drama. There is nothing in this movie to justify watching it through to the end. They could have done a lot with the three sisters but it wasn't about three sisters. It was about the middle daughter and her alcoholic father. This just isn't entertainment. It would be more accurate if we called it something different like "punishment for traffic offenders". DVD Quality: Widescreen anamorphic with a deleted scene and a gag reel that is better than the movie. What You Should Do: Steer clear. Do not spend any time on this film much less any money.
Rating:
Summary: This should get 0 stars!
Review: Absolutely awful movie!!!! A waste of talent on this movie especially from Meg Ryan who seemed to be "off" as she didn't know how to act in some scenes and it was very visable in the movie. Don't even bother buying this terrible movie!
Rating: 
Summary: Warms your Heart, and brakes it with a Flair
Review: This is a great movie and wonderful acting by Lisa Kudrow, Meg Ryan,and Diane Keaton. The last great movie of Walter Matthau.This is a great movie to own and won't leave you dissapointed just breathless.
Rating:
Summary: endearing comedy
Review: Based on Delia Ephron's novel, HANGING UP tells the bittersweet tale of three sisters and the painful process of watching their elderly father slip away. Meg Ryan, Lisa Kudrow and Diane Keaton are fabulous as the often mismatched sisters who all have their own lives. Eve (Meg Ryan) is the only one who seems truly upset by the goings-on, while actress Maddy (Lisa Kudrow) and magazine editor Georgia (Diane Keaton) are too busy to contemplate the consequences. Their eccentric father (Walter Matthau) who is suffering from dementia and cannot walk anymore, is put into hospital care. Eve seems continually guilty over what is happening; is constantly on the phone with her sisters and has no time for herself. Suddenly she realises the only way out is to hang up. A sparkling script and strong direction by Diane Keaton are the driving forces throughout this delightful comedy-drama. A cross between Keaton's other two "kooky sister" films CRIMES OF THE HEART and THE LEMON SISTERS (which I also highly recommend), HANGING UP also stars Cloris Leachman and Edie McClurg.
Rating: 
Summary: A flunk
Review: Hanging Up Score: 38/100 It is a question asked so much in cinema nowadays: how can so much talent create such a big flop? Some of these movies are Hook and Mystery Men, and now, Hanging Up can be one of those movies I can add to my list. It boasts a flashy cast and the girly-vibe, but it never creates atmosphere and largely uninteresting. Lou Mozell (Walter Mathau) is an ageing screenwriter who is struck down by illness. His three very different daughters, who had been leading separate lives as an editor, Eve (Meg Ryan), an actress, Maddy (Lisa Kudrow), and a businesswoman, Georgia (Diane Keaton), come back together to look after their father. In doing so, the daughters come together and settle the differences between themselves. It has such a great, star-studded cast and could've become a really memorable and absorbing, maybe even Oscar worthy picture, if the script was up to at least the average standard and the story could've been twenty times more interesting. When it tries to be dramatic or moving, Hanging Up just ends up acting like a TV movie that has been stuck together like a puzzle, except the pieces aren't put in the correct places. At times Hanging Up can be watchable thanks to the leading ladies, but overall, it's a messy and boring picture that isn't worth money or time. Disappointing, over-long and rarely intriguing, Hanging Up will sink to the bottom of the barrel even more with time. And it's half way to the end anyway.
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