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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:167

Fresh:122

Rotten:45

Average Rating:6.7/10

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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    121 - 140 (sorted by date)
    Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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    That anger is explored only superficially and most of the women seem merely to be ornamentation, defined by their problems.

    Full Review Source: Contra Costa Times | comment Comment
    03/18/05
    Mary F. Pols
    Mary F. Pols
    Contra Costa Times

    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
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Unfortunately, despite predictably fine performances all around, the overall effect of the film is hampered by poor directorial execution and an act-three plot twist that defies plausibility.

    Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
    03/18/05
    Annlee Ellingson
    Annlee Ellingson
    Boxoffice Magazine

    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

    This vehicle was designed with Allen in the driver’s seat and she roars with it, giving a performance as hilarious as often as it is bitter and tragic.

    Full Review Source: Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) | comment Comment
    03/18/05
    Jeffrey Westhoff
    Jeffrey Westhoff
    Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

    There’s little Upside here.

    Full Review Source: Now Playing Magazine | comment Comment
    03/18/05
    Brent Simon
    Brent Simon
    Now Playing Magazine

    [Binder's] film is a raging morass of misogyny, a self-congratulatory exercise in mental masturbation.

    Full Review Source: Las Vegas Weekly | comment Comment
    03/17/05
    Josh Bell
    Josh Bell
    Las Vegas Weekly

    Intriguing for most of the way, only to be undermined by a late revelation that confuses its thesis beyond repair.

    Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
    03/17/05
    Eugene Novikov
    Eugene Novikov
    Film Blather

    women may appreciate this movie more, but even I can see the upside.

    Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
    03/17/05
    David Levine
    David Levine
    Filmcritic.com

    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

    Despite the xeroxed plot and a horribly misguided ending ... nearly redeemed by a cast that wrings out every last bit of potential from the formula.

    Full Review Source: The Stranger (Seattle, WA) | comment Comment
    03/17/05
    Andrew Wright
    Andrew Wright
    The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

    The Upside of Anger strands yet another terrific Joan Allen performance in thematically self-contradicting twaddle.

    Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
    03/17/05
    Ian Grey
    Ian Grey
    Orlando Weekly

    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

    Quite a bit of fun.

    Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
    03/17/05
    Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
    Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
    St. Paul Pioneer Press

    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

    If you’ve doubted Kevin Costner or Joan Allen over the last few years, this is a terrific chance to see them both firing on all cylinders.

    Full Review Source: FilmJerk.com | comment Comment
    03/17/05
    Brian Orndorf
    Brian Orndorf
    FilmJerk.com

    A smart, funny, yet, at the same time, unrelenting look at what happens when a midlife slump collides with a midlife crisis.

    Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
    03/17/05
    Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
    Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
    Atlanta Journal-Constitution
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Allen and Costner get to flirt and fool around and distract us from the rest of the movie. They're doing it a favor.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
    03/17/05
    Michael Wilmington
    Michael Wilmington
    Chicago Tribune
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Even if it is too slow and never as good as it should have been, iit does have undeniable pleasures, the chief among them is watching Costner and Allen do marvelous work.

    Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment Comment
    03/17/05
    Steve Rhodes
    Steve Rhodes
    Internet Reviews

    Costner takes over a Jack Nicholson part and perfectly engages us. Not every middle-aged star needs Tarantino to have a career resurrected.

    Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment Comment
    03/16/05
    Victoria Alexander
    Victoria Alexander
    FilmsInReview.com
     
     
    121 - 140 (sorted by date)
    Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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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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