The day has just started. In a matter of hours you have managed to spill coffee all over yourself, survive a crisis at work, talk to both your sisters and be hung up on twice, run into a Mercedes in the parking garage and admit your delusional father to the hospital.
Welcome to the life of Eve (Meg Ryan) in Hanging Up. As the middle daughter of a “normal” family, she runs a party-catering business and tends to the needs of her son and husband with countless interruptions from her father describing John Wayne’s genitalia or asking for Chinese food.
Like the peanut butter between two slices, Eve struggles to keep the delicate balance she calls family, intact.
Her older sister, Georgia (Diane Keaton), is capable of anything but failure. She is the infamous editor of her self-titled magazine “Georgia.” Maddy (Lisa Kudrow), Eve’s always-got-to-have-a-boyfriend younger sister, portrays Juliana on a daily soap opera. And, of course, good old dad. Lou, played by Walter Matthau, is the lovable handful left to the sisters by their mother.
Similar to her latest movie, You’ve Got Mail where anything truly worthwhile take place via the Internet, Ryan stays up-to-date on her dad’s latest wishes, Georgia’s newest best thing and Maddy’s current heartache through the phone.
And don’t forget about cell phones. It seems as if everyone is always on the move, except bed-ridden dad. A tad paranoid, Eve responds to every ring past 10 at night screaming “He’s dead” as she frantically runs for the phone.
Aside from the humorous chaos of daily life and the occasional quip from Matthau, Hanging Up touches more than just the funny bone.
Through a series of flashbacks, the story of a father and his daughters emerges.
Eve’s memory captures the unique father-daughter bond in moments such as dancing in the living room and picking out the family Christmas tree.
True to reality, Eve also remembers when her heroic father seemed more like a monster storming about the world as a lonely drunk The idealized parent becomes just another human being in his child’s eyes.
However, despite his failures and constant phone calls Eve realizes her father is dying and believes her sisters are oblivious to that fact. Maddy is too busy recovering from Juliana’s broken leg while Georgia is swamped with the fifth edition of her magazine.
Eve, in her perpetual, juggling circus act, runs around trying to hold everything and everyone together. A reluctant coffee machine sparks her inevitable break down.
Like any other person who feels as if the world would cease to function in her absence, she seeks comfort and wisdom.
She finds a hug and some compassion in a mother on loan in the hospital cafeteria.
The wise woman coincidentally the mother of the Mercedes owner advises Eve that sometimes we all need to disconnect ourselves.
In typical Meg Ryan fashion, Eve returns home and runs about ripping every phone, answering machine and fax off the wall.
After shoving her armload of telephones and wires into a closet, Eve feels a sense of peace and sanity. As the dog chews the high-tech cordless phone, the literal interpretation of a stranger’s advice comes to life.
The sisters finally come together – separated by a few feet rather than the telecommunication airways. All hell breaks loose as Georgia, Eve and Maddy enter into a full-fledged sibling riot. The phone rings and silence falls amid the quarrel. In a final paternal act, Matthau brings his family together at his deathbed. The daughters reconcile as they cope with grief and find comfort in each other’s laughter.
While advertised as a comedy Hanging Up is more than the story of a spastic woman going about her daily life. It causes audiences to recognize the need to slow things down and find life’s pause button before the stop button overrides manual control.
