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"Hanging Up" is a new drama-comedy you'll want to keep on the line.
It's based on the book by Delia Ephron, who collaborated on the screenplay with her older sister Nora Ephron. Diane Keaton, who also appears in the film, directed "Hanging Up."

"Hanging Up" is about three disconnected sisters and their family troubles. Eve Marks (Meg Ryan) is the selfless middle child who's getting stressed out over her many commitments. She's been responsible for her now dying father (a stellar Walter Matthau) since her parents were divorced. He's an alcoholic and often verbally abusive. Eve is propelled to still help him by the good times they shared in her childhood.

Eve tries to keep her dysfunctional family together.
She plays telephone tag with her other sisters Georgia and Maddy, who don't help to lessen her heavy burden. Georgia (Diane Keaton) is Eve's conceited older sister and CEO of her popular self-titled magazine. Maddy (Lisa Kudrow), the baby in the family, is a moody soap opera star who's rarely helpful.

Meg Ryan adds another number to her well-known cute and quirky routine in "Hanging Up".
She has a larger pallet of emotions to paint Eve with, like sadness, frustration, and confusion. She believably taps into the difficulty of being a caregiver. Her facial expressions are more varied than her usual scrunched-up grin. Though she retains some of her original cuteness, she's blossoming into a versatile actress.

Walter Matthau was powerful as the Mark sisters' dad. He's usually in comedies ("Grumpy Old Men", "The Odd Couple") so it was a change of pace for him to play a serious role. Cloris Leachman also had a small part as Eve's estranged mother.

Ryan, Kudrow, and Keaton were convincing as sisters. They had a familiarity around each other that can only be found around real sisters. They showed the delicate bond of sisterhood, how it can come together or break apart with just one harsh word or silence. They could fight one minute and hug the next.

So connect with your girlfriends, your mom or your sisters for "Hanging Up." It's rated PG-13 for profanity.

Hanging Up
Original Soundtrack

Hanging Up - the novel
by Delia Ephron

From the bestselling author of How to Eat Like a Child. Eve Mozell spends most of her life on the phone, talking to her hapless younger sister, listening to her superior older sister, trying to comfort their senile, alcoholic father. Somewhere between the hello and good-bye, she finds a way to cope with the people in her lunatic, lacerating--and ultimately loving--life.

Heartburn
by Nora Ephron

Out of analysis and seven months pregnant, cookbook writer Rachel Samstat discovers that her husband is into analysis and an affair and suffers six weeks of intense heartburn.

Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2000
by Roger Ebert

In a brand-new concept, Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook contains all the reviews published by Ebert in the last two and a half years, including foreign films, documentaries, indies, and highly negative reviews which were often eliminated from the Companion for space reasons but make entertaining reading as well as aiding in the selection process. The Yearbook also contains all interviews and essays for the year, his Questions for the Movie Answer Man, and film festival coverage. The book also retains in the back a list of all movies previously appearing in Video Companions with Roger's star ratings.