Hanging Up

An estrogen-laced bonding fable featuring Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton and Lisa Kudrow as three perfectly coifed, unconsciously competitive sisters, Hanging Up is not the chronically cute chick flick of saccharine sentimentality it sounds like--but only because co-star Keaton stepped behind the camera when writer Nora Ephron (You've Got Mail) was not available to direct. A capricious comedy-drama about lingering sibling rivalry and responsibility in the wake of their father's (Walter Matthau) Alzheimer's disease, the movie has its problems (a trite feminine empowerment soundtrack, and a flashback epilogue finale). But it overcomes them thanks to funny, emotionally sincere performances and Keaton's keen ability to keep Ephron's pandering platitudes in check. (R. Blackwelder)