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Movies / On DVD / The Upside of Anger
The Upside of Anger

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The Upside of Anger (2005)

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Reviews Counted:33

Fresh:22

Rotten:11

Average Rating:6.5/10

Consensus: A comedy/ drama for grown-ups, with fine performances by Joan Allen and Kevin Costner.

Runtime: 2 hrs 1 min

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Mar 11, 2005 Limited

Box Office: $18,742,061

Synopsis: Starring Joan Allen, THE UPSIDE OF ANGER spans three years of a woman's life following her husband's sudden disappearance. Terry Wolfmeyer (Allen), an affluent suburban Detroit wife and mother,... Starring Joan Allen, THE UPSIDE OF ANGER spans three years of a woman's life following her husband's sudden disappearance. Terry Wolfmeyer (Allen), an affluent suburban Detroit wife and mother, goes from a paragon of sweetness to a volcano of rage in the wake of her husband's desertion; she thinks he has jetted off to Sweden with his Swedish secretary. Barely holding it together for her four daughters (distinctively played by Alicia Witt, Keri Russell, Erika Christensen, and Evan Rachel Wood), Terry fitfully adjusts while befriending Denny Davies (Costner), a retired baseball player and radio personality up the street who shares her love of the all-day cocktail hour. Allen is a delightful force, displaying serious comedic talent and effortlessly stealing each scene. She glows with an unaffected sexiness, while Costner shines as the seemingly all-wrong man who turns out to be completely right. Writer-director Mike Binder casts a keenly perceptive eye on male-female relationships, a topic he also explored in his critically-acclaimed HBO series THE MIND OF THE MARRIED MAN. Binder also appears in a role as Denny's producer Shep, a shallow womanizer with surprisingly resonant reasons for being shallow. As the three years pass, Terry and her daughters are confronted with varying individual situations, choices, and compromises, with moments that ring true in ways both moving and strikingly funny. THE UPSIDE OF ANGER is an ideal combination of drama and humor. [More]

Starring: Joan Allen, Kevin Costner, Erika Christensen, Alicia Witt

Starring: Joan Allen, Kevin Costner, Erika Christensen, Alicia Witt, Evan Rachel Wood, Keri Russell, Mike Binder

Director: Mike Binder

Director: Mike Binder
Producer: Alex Gartner, Jack Binder, Sammy Lee
Composer: Alexandre Desplat
Studio: New Line Cinema

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Release:

Jul 26, 2005

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • A touching yet humorous film about a woman who finds her and her daughters' lives changed by a former baseball star who steps into her life as her drinking buddy.
  • Source: Warner Home Video
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for The Upside of Anger

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    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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    Binder wrote this movie for Joan Allen, and it is her flinty performance that gives the undertaking what claim it has to success.

    Full Review Source: Film.com | comment Comment
    09/15/05
    Jonathan F. Richards
    Jonathan F. Richards
    Film.com
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    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
    07/21/05
    Houston Chronicle
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    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: New Yorker | comment Comment
    05/21/05
    Anthony Lane
    Anthony Lane
    New Yorker
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    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
    05/14/05
    Dallas Morning News
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    The actors tune in to their individual characters perfectly, but this is Allen's show.

    Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
    04/02/05
    Kirk Honeycutt
    Kirk Honeycutt
    Hollywood Reporter
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
    04/02/05
    Todd McCarthy
    Todd McCarthy
    Variety
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    Standard-issue.

    Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
    03/25/05
    Geoff Pevere
    Geoff Pevere
    Toronto Star
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    What's best about Upside is its gonzo-sitcom craziness, a situation that lends itself to enjoyable performances.

    Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
    03/18/05
    Desson Thomson
    Desson Thomson
    Washington Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    It feels like a retread of several better movies, with a nastier, more bitter edge.

    Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
    03/18/05
    Ann Hornaday
    Ann Hornaday
    Washington Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    The characters are actually believable, and the messes they get into approximate real life.

    Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
    03/18/05
    Ruthe Stein
    Ruthe Stein
    San Francisco Chronicle
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Meant to explore anger, all this picture does is manufacture it.

    Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
    03/18/05
    Rick Groen
    Rick Groen
    Globe and Mail
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    One seriously enjoyable film, filled with laughs and recognizable situations and people you might know or like to know.

    Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
    03/18/05
    Tom Long
    Tom Long
    Detroit News
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    Allen, who is without doubt one of the best actors of her era, gets to go places she has never before gone, while Costner gets to remind us exactly what it was we were drawn to in Bull Durham.

    Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
    03/18/05
    Terry Lawson
    Terry Lawson
    Detroit Free Press
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    It stands as a strong piece of comic filmmaking, elevated by Allen's acid-laced performance and Costner's shambling charm.

    Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
    03/18/05
    Robert Denerstein
    Robert Denerstein
    Denver Rocky Mountain News
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Allen gets to the heart of the movie's humor without ever winking.

    Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
    03/18/05
    Lisa Kennedy
    Lisa Kennedy
    Denver Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    I liked these characters precisely because they were not designed to be likable -- or, more precisely, because they were likable in spite of being exasperating, unorganized, self-destructive and impervious to good advice.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
    03/18/05
    Roger Ebert
    Roger Ebert
    Chicago Sun-Times
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    Binder is too facile an observer to get anywhere near the complexities of a house full of women -- instead, Terry is a prickly goddess, and the daughters are an assortment of muses.

    Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
    03/18/05
    Wesley Morris
    Wesley Morris
    Boston Globe
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    It feels like a bloated Lifetime TV movie.

    Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
    03/17/05
    Randy Cordova
    Randy Cordova
    Arizona Republic
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    This is a movie that rests on its two leads. Allen and Costner play their parts like injured predators licking each other's wounds. They are magnificent, and they are healing.

    Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
    03/17/05
    Carrie Rickey
    Carrie Rickey
    Philadelphia Inquirer
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    The film is full of emotional truth, and it gives Allen, at long last, the star vehicle she so richly deserves.

    Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
    03/17/05
    Colin Covert
    Colin Covert
    Minneapolis Star Tribune
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
     
     
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    Latest News for The Upside of Anger

    June 08, 2006: Sandler to Star in 9/11 Drama
    Big-screen comedian Adam Sandler is going to get a little more serious for his next role. He'll be starring in Mike Binder's 9/11 drama "Empty City," along with Don... More...

    February 21, 2006: Actress Trio Joins Sandler's "Reign"
    Actresses Liv Tyler, Saffron Burrows, and Jada Pinkett-Smith will be joining Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle in "Reign O'er Me," a post-9/11 drama from "Upside of... More...

    January 11, 2006: Chicago Critics Pick Their 2005 Winners (and Iowa!)
    The Chicago Film Critics Group announced their nominees just before New Years' Eve, and they reconvened this week to vote on their year-end favorites. Also, the Iowa Film... More...

    January 10, 2006: Online Film Critics Offer Their Annual Nominations
    The OFCS, which is hosted right here at Rotten Tomatoes and (full disclosure) includes yours truly as a member, announced their year-end nominations yesterday ... and we hope... More...

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