Hanging Up

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.

The late Walter Matthau ended his long and illustrious career as a film actor in `Hanging Up,' playing, appropriately, the dying father of three adult daughters. I wish I could say that the vehicle he chose as his eventual swan song were one truly worthy of his enormous skill and talent. Unfortunately – or rather fortunately – however, this will not be the film for which he is most remembered.

Like so many films, `Hanging Up' starts off with the most noble of intentions. Writer Delia Ephron and director Diane Keaton have attempted to come to terms with the most complex issue facing the aging baby boomer generation: how does one cope with ailing, aging and dying parents while trying to keep a grip on one's own hectic life and personal commitments? And, to make matters more complicated, how does one expend the physical and emotional energy needed for such a task when the parent himself is often irascible, crusty and even downright unlikable in his behavior and nature? And, finally, how does a wounded child ultimately find it in his or her heart to forgive the parent and arrive at that moment of reconciliation so crucial when death finally comes?

When `Hanging Up' focuses on this theme, it achieves moments of point and relevance. All of us can identify with the main character, Eve (Meg Ryan), a sweet, warmhearted young woman who, alone of the three daughters, has unflaggingly dedicated herself to the care of a father who, more often than not, strikes out at her in unappreciative scorn and anger. Wearied and harassed by the enormous burdens of her hectic life and her own inability to say `no' to the people who demand so much from her, Eve emerges as a truly winning and believable character. Unfortunately, her two sisters, Georgia (Diane Keaton), a magazine magnate, and Maddy (Lisa Kudrow), a soap opera actress, come across as shallow, two-dimensional characters whose self-absorption and seeming indifference are (ho hum) really masks for the insecurity and hurt hidden deep beneath their composed surfaces.

Somehow, however, for all its attempts to deal with a truly universal theme, `Hanging Up' never seems quite real in its look and demeanor – it always feels like a movie. Maybe it is the overall slickness of the approach that undermines the seriousness of the drama. The actresses, good though they are, seem somehow too glamorous, their careers too unrepresentative of most of the people in the audience. Another problem is that the film can never seem to settle on an appropriate tone. One moment we find ourselves steeped in searing drama followed the next by a scene of trivial slapstick. Time and again, Ryan is forced to trip over a discarded toy, tangle with an overgrown mutt or bang away at an uncooperative coffee dispenser. Such incidents end up reducing the level of the drama to little more than sitcom status.

`Hanging Up' has, however, been blessed with a wonderful cast. Ryan, Keaton, Kudrow and Matthau pore on the charm and play off each other nicely. (And the film has some devilish fun playing up the physical similarities between Matthau and Richard Nixon). These fine performers obviously had a terrific time making the film together. That is why one regrets the fact, that for all their hard work, the film they left behind is so lacking in credibility and grit. At the end of his career and life, Matthau deserved better.

This movie is definitely not what I had expected. With a cast like this I expected a great comedy. But the movie was boring and confusing. There are too many flashbacks. Maybe it is just me, but I found it difficult to understand what was going on. Of course, that could also have something to do with the fact that it was very difficult for me to stay focused. What a shame this was going to be Walter Matthau's last movie. I you found this movie good or even funny, you must be more intellectual than me.

The first time I saw this movie, in the theater, I was too caught up in the unexpected awfulness of Eve's situation to be rational about my reaction. Only someone who has lived through an experience like this could possibly understand her feelings about her father, her selfish sisters, her truly horrible mother, while trying (unsuccessfully, but sincerely trying!!) to maintain some kind of family life with her husband and son. I loved the frequent flashbacks. I think this is a movie for the over-forty audience, because I'm not sure anybody else could understand it. The second time I watched it, I was able to concentrate more on the story, and the story is a good one. Sure, it's no knee-slapping comedy, but it never presented itself as such. It's almost too realistic in parts, if you've ever had a parent in this situation, you would understand. If you haven't yet reached that part of your life, there is no way you could possibly understand. The doctor's mother was a love of a person. I'd like to see her again. I wish I knew her in real life. And, the soundtrack is absolutely awesome. Jay McShann's "Once Upon A Time" is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. And when it was sung over the flashback of Eve's mother and father dancing, I cried through the whole scene. If you are seeking a comedy, seek elsewhere.

If you are at that stage of your life where you are seeking a great mixture of comedy, tragedy, irony, and frustration (just like our real lives!) then go rent this movie tonight. Have some Kleenex handy.

Some very good performances help this otherwise forgettable film about the relationship between the three daughters (played by Diane Keaton, Meg Ryan and Lisa Kudrow), of a dying man (Walter Matthau.) There isn't anything particularly noteworthy about the story itself. Told largely in flashback style, we see how the father-daughter relationship evolved over the years from a happy, loving one through the breakup of the parents and into the last days before Lou's death. The movie features fairly typical scenarios of the types of things that might cause family breakdowns (divorce, alcoholism, sibling rivalry, etc.) There are some humourous moments, but all in all I found myself largely disappointed by the story.

As I mentioned, though, there were some good performances which lifted this from a bad one to the ranks of mediocre to average. Meg Ryan was particularly good as Eve, the daughter who bears most of the responsibility for caring for Lou. She's guilty of a bit of overacting at times, but is definitely worthy of the leading role. Walter Matthau played Lou very well - but, of course, he should have been accustomed to playing crotchety old men by that point in his career. There were some surprise performances as well. Lisa Kudrow demonstrated more acting ability than I expected from her based on having watched "Friends" a few times, and, in a very limited role, Duke Moosekian was really quite funny as Dr. Omar Kunundar, whose car Eve manages to damage in a car accident. On the negative side, I was also surprised by what I thought was a very below average performance by Diane Keaton (who also directed, and who, in my opinion, showed no great talent as a director.) She simply began to grate after a while.

The best word I can come up with to describe this movie is bittersweet, both in the story of how a seemingly happy family turned out to be so consumed in anger and jealousy, and in the sense that the movie had possibilities, particularly in the strong performances I mentioned, that just didn't seem to add up to anything. Generously, I rated this as a 5/10.