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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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    161 - 179 (sorted by date)
    Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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    A squarely suburban movie with a distinctly bourgeois-shaped window on the world, but it's genuine and exceptionally well observed.

    Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
    03/10/05
    Carina Chocano
    Carina Chocano
    Los Angeles Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    The Upside of Anger is the upside of Allen.

    Full Review Source: NPR's Fresh Air | comment Comment
    03/10/05
    David Edelstein
    David Edelstein
    NPR's Fresh Air

    Offers a lot of smart dialogue and six nicely developed characters.

    Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
    03/10/05
    James Berardinelli
    James Berardinelli
    ReelViews
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    The upside of Mike Binder's deeply flawed attempt to marry midlife romantic comedy with domestic farce is two nearly perfect performances by Joan Allen and Kevin Costner.

    Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
    03/10/05
    A.O. Scott
    A.O. Scott
    New York Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    An emotional reality check that is profound, laugh-out-loud funny, articulate and shattering.

    Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
    03/10/05
    Rex Reed
    Rex Reed
    New York Observer
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    The film is carried by Costner and Allen, who project a chemistry so incrementally built on reluctant camaraderie, they almost seem like siblings.

    Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
    03/10/05
    Ella Taylor
    Ella Taylor
    L.A. Weekly

    Ms. Wood does her best with the material, as do Allen and Costner. It takes more than good acting to make a good movie, though. Good writing helps, and there's not enough of that here.

    Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
    03/10/05
    David Sterritt
    David Sterritt
    Christian Science Monitor

    The movies haven't rewarded Allen's formidable talent with a star turn that cuts her loose and unfurls her resources. Until now.

    Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
    03/10/05
    Gene Seymour
    Gene Seymour
    Newsday
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    The mixture of sitcom and soap opera that worked in 'Terms of Endearment' feels stale here, especially since the final-reel revelation is more cheat than treat.

    Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
    03/10/05
    Frank Swietek
    Frank Swietek
    One Guy's Opinion

    Brilliant! I can't wait to see it again!

    Full Review Source: Supercala.com | comment Comment
    03/09/05
    John Venable
    John Venable
    Supercala.com

    Costner and Allen show you what it means not just to play a role but to inhabit it.

    Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
    03/09/05
    Owen Gleiberman
    Owen Gleiberman
    Entertainment Weekly
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    A few great moments wedged into a fairly bland film.

    Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
    03/07/05
    Edward Douglas
    Edward Douglas
    ComingSoon.net

    The film has exhausted itself with fits of glib hysteria long before its truly stupefying final twist, a stunning betrayal of audience trust.

    Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
    03/07/05
    Jessica Winter
    Jessica Winter
    Village Voice

    Costner's funny and sincere in a role that winks at his many previous baseball movies. And Joan Allen brings home the kind of performance that wins awards.

    Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
    03/07/05
    Richard Roeper
    Richard Roeper
    Ebert & Roeper
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    A terrific performance by Joan Allen as one who is angry for the wrong reasons.

    Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
    03/05/05
    Harvey S. Karten
    Harvey S. Karten
    Compuserve

    An engrossing and well-acted psychodrama about the toxic side-effects of anger, a potent and volatile emotion.

    Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
    03/05/05
    Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
    Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
    Spirituality and Practice

    A poignant. bittersweet, exquisitely evocative movie that packs an emotional wallop. It's richly touching without being sentimental.

    Full Review Source: Modamag.com | comment Comment
    02/22/05
    Susan Granger
    Susan Granger
    Modamag.com

    Playing a drunken, bitter matriarch, Joan Allen gives such an astounding performance in The Upside of Anger that she elevates the film above its melodramatic trappings

    Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
    02/03/05
    Emanuel Levy
    Emanuel Levy
    EmanuelLevy.Com

    A fiercely funny human comedy with jokes that sting and leave marks.

    Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
    01/27/05
    Peter Travers
    Peter Travers
    Rolling Stone
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
     
     
    161 - 179 (sorted by date)
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    Latest News for The Upside of Anger

    June 08, 2006: Sandler to Star in 9/11 Drama
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    February 21, 2006: Actress Trio Joins Sandler's "Reign"
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    January 11, 2006: Chicago Critics Pick Their 2005 Winners (and Iowa!)
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    January 10, 2006: Online Film Critics Offer Their Annual Nominations
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