Costner takes over a Jack Nicholson part and perfectly engages us. Not every middle-aged star needs Tarantino to have a career resurrected.
The Upside of Anger (2005)
Tomatometer
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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
US 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
Reviews for The Upside of Anger
[F]inds acrid humor in the blackness of unrelenting fury while never letting its characters be less than fully human...
Uptight Joan Allen gets drunk and goes ballistic in this flawed, deeply satisfying picture, offering Kevin Costner a chance to re-discover his off-kilter comic timing.
High-caliber drama-comedy about an abandoned wife makes Joan Allen an early front-runner for 2005's Best Actress.
Endeavors to airmail the middle-aged suburban angst made fashionable by American Beauty safely back to cynicism-free sitcom territory.
The Upside of Anger feels like it could have used some judicious re-writes to streamline the story to fit the just-under-120 minute run time
There are a few loose subplots in Mike Binder's film, but that only adds to the sense of its real-life charm. You'll be upset if you miss it.
Writer/director Mike Binder and his ensemble cast, headed by actress Joan Allen, prove that even the hoariest of set-ups can still produce excellent drama, providing the writing is sharp and the acting superior.
Throughout her career, Allen has often been the best thing in lesser pictures. How refreshing to see a movie rise to her capabilities.
Perhaps it's a sign, then, of how starved we are for movies with grown-up characters doing grown-up things that it's easy to ignore the downside of Upside and give the film a pass. Allen and Costner should find another movie to make together.
A wonderful, sophisticated romantic comedy about the resilience of love in the face of competing emotions.
A valiantly flawed effort boosted by noteworthy star turns that make the two-hour running time a rewarding filmgoing experience.
Binder has created a middle-aged female protagonist of rare depth and complexity, a jilted wife played by the great Joan Allen with screen-grabbing gusto.
Writer/director Mike Binder...deftly blends comedy and drama until the writer's urge to add a heavy dose of irony at film's end makes it veer off course
Allen is one of the most reliable American actresses, and her intelligence and wit raise the quality of a movie that often feels as if it belongs on the Lifetime cable network.
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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