Synopsis
Eve Marks is the sister who keeps her fractured family connected while caring for their irascible father, Lou, after he is hospitalized with dementia. Her older sister Georgia is consumed by her magazine empire, while Maddy struggles to find direction. As Lou's condition worsens, old resentments and childhood wounds resurface, forcing the sisters to confront their complicated family history and their own emotional distance.
Factoids & Trivia
- The screenplay was written by sisters Delia Ephron and Nora Ephron, adapting Delia's 1995 novel of the same name.
- Walter Matthau's appearance as Lou Mozell was his final film role. Matthau became seriously ill during production and was hospitalized with pneumonia. Because he had already completed most of his scenes, some missing flashback material was filled in by his son, Charlie Matthau.
- The film's central telephone motif reflects the family's dependence on constant calls. Eve functions as the household's human switchboard, making the title both a literal reference to ending a call and a metaphor for setting emotional boundaries.
- The film opened in U.S. theaters on February 18, 2000. Although it received largely negative reviews, it earned approximately $51.9 million worldwide.