The Worst Film Ever

Memorable, crazy movie

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This film should have been a lot better. It remains watchable but some parts are painful. I found Diane Keaton and Lisa Kudrow's characters completely shallow and annoying. In fact, they almost gave me a headache. Actually every character in the film is a stereotype. Luckily, Meg Ryan is decent and holds the film together. Walter Matthau is alright as the crotchety dad. Some of his scenes are more drama than comedy and could have been toned down. The film is watchable but definitely not worth a trip to the theater. See it if you are bored with nothing else to do.Overall 4/10

OK, so, a lot of people are saying that they were disappointed, that it looked funny but wasn't, that there was more drama than comedy etc etc etc. BUT, I just have to point out, this movie isn't just listed as a COMEDY but also as a DRAMA, therefore, it is to be expected that there is a fair bit of drama involved in this movie. Just a forewarning: if you don't like flashbacks, don't watch this flick, it's full of 'em! This movie really amused me, and if you get it on DVD, watch the cutouts! I laughed myself silly.. the cast of this movie is brilliant (even if you're like me, and aren't the biggest fan of Diane Keaton). You have Meg Ryan, with another of her light comedies, Lisa Kudrow with another ditzy roll (lol), Diane Keaton in a role I would expect her to play in a comedy/drama and Walter Matthau, who always puts in a very amusing performance.It's a fun, light comedic/dramatic flick, full of flashbacks, with hilarious cutouts. I'd recommend it to anyone.. Have fun :-P

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.

HANGING UP (2000) *1/2 Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton, Lisa Kudrow, Walter Matthau, Adam Arkin, Cloris Leachman, Jesse James, Edie McClurg.When did Nora Ephron lose her razor sharp comic bile and effervescent wit? I'd be hard pressed to guess at her debacle at directing the laugh free `Mixed Nuts' that made her directing debut practically inauspicious. Since then she has rehashed `When Harry Met Sally.' (one of my all time favorite comedies) AND `Sleepless In Seattle' (with 1998's `You've Got Mail' which was a rehash of `The Shop Around The Corner') and I've also noticed her comedy flair has gotten a nasty streak of meanness throughout. Her latest offering is a joint effort with her sister Delia (based on her autobiographical account of their colorful screenwriter father) that quite frankly is a mirthless, `dramedy' (a term I never wholeheartedly embraced; sounds freakish don't you think?) about three sisters approaching middle age and enough dysfunction for several sitcoms to trudge through.Eve, Georgia and Maddy (Ryan, Keaton - who directed this mess, and Kudrow, respectively) are the squabbling sisters who all seem attached by some sort of metaphorical umbilical cord (i.e. the phone) who are at constant odds with each other and themselves in midst of a family crisis: their randy, colorful alcoholic screenwriter father Lou (the film's saving grace Matthau, who gives a heartfelt turn in a too-true-to-life interpretation of a life fully lived) whose mental decline is only preceded by his physical one: he's slowly dying.But it seems that Eve, a professional party planner married with a son, is the only one who recognizes this in spite of her hectic pell mell existence and clumsiness (i.e. accident prone to a fault) she does the only reasonable alternative: she puts their dad in the hospital after an attempt in a nursing home that only offered disastrous results.Georgia is a power hungry magazine magnate busy putting her self-congratulatory 5th anniversary edition of her eponymous zine to bed while her ditzy younger sis Maddy is trying to maintain a role on a soap opera with middling results.The film suffers many things, largely a decent script with a peppering of listless one-liners that fall flat or the hackneyed long-in-the-tooth premise of a dying loved one's pleas for his children to love one another (a noble theme true but here it feels like pulling teeth with no ether!) The other sin in the golden rule of comedy is there is nothing likable about the `realistic' account of one family's attempt to deal with a crisis. All three sisters are sooo annoying and whining and ultimately uncaring that when they finally get together by the film's inevitable climax it feels contrived and completely unconvincing. Why should we care about any of these characters in the first place? They're all too wrapped up in their ME ME way of life that it's actually repulsive.Matthau, with his basset hound's face in the comedy visage of Mount Rushmore, delivers a fine professional turn and I hate to say this but the fact he has been facing some hard times with his health only adds another layer to his role that raises the film a half star just for his casting.There are so many unanswered questions I hope the three other stars may consider on their next feature film. For Ryan - who I absolutely adore except here she is given the thankless task of being the glue here - When are you going to do a comedy with your meant-to-be older sister/mother Goldie Hawn, who she seems to be channeling obviously in her one-too-many scenes with a behemoth St. Bernard (shades of `Seems Like Old Times'); for Keaton - who will forever be Annie Hall to me - When did you stop being funny? Perhaps the second `Father of the Bride' flick? And finally to Kudrow - who's always solidly funny - When oh when are you going to stretch again and do another character (i.e. `The Opposite of Sex' in which she was deliciously snippy) and not another variation of your classic airhead Phoebe from `Friends'? These unsolved mysteries are now at Robert Stack's disposal.