Binder wrote this movie for Joan Allen, and it is her flinty performance that gives the undertaking what claim it has to success.
The Upside of Anger (2005)
Tomatometer
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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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Reviews for The Upside of Anger
The actors tune in to their individual characters perfectly, but this is Allen's show.
What's best about Upside is its gonzo-sitcom craziness, a situation that lends itself to enjoyable performances.
It feels like a retread of several better movies, with a nastier, more bitter edge.
The characters are actually believable, and the messes they get into approximate real life.
One seriously enjoyable film, filled with laughs and recognizable situations and people you might know or like to know.
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.
It stands as a strong piece of comic filmmaking, elevated by Allen's acid-laced performance and Costner's shambling charm.
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.
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.
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.
The film is full of emotional truth, and it gives Allen, at long last, the star vehicle she so richly deserves.
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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