The Upside of Anger Review
by Robin Clifford (robin AT reelingreviews DOT com)March 16th, 2005
"The Upside of Anger"
A funeral procession makes its way, on a rainy day, to a cemetery. A voice over tells us that the focal character, Terry Wolfmeyer (Joan Allen), is a bitter and angry woman ever since her husband of 20 year left without a word, abandoning Terry and her four young adult daughters to their fate in "The Upside of Anger."
Writer-director-costar Mike Binder assembles a talented collection of actors, veteran and up-and-comers, in his comedy/drama about abandonment and, especially, anger. Terry had, she thought, a fine life with her four girls approaching the day when they can leave the nest. But, when her husband does not come home one night – just three days after his young, beautiful, female Swedish assistant quit to return to her native land – she suspects the worst. Beside herself over the betrayal, Terry shuts off all his accounts to teach the cad a lesson. And, she starts drinking morning, noon and night, much to the chagrin of her daughters, Hadley (Alicia Witt), Andy (Erika Christensen), Emily (Keri Russell) and Lavender, AKA Popeye (Rachel Evan Wood).
Soon, their neighbor and Terry's husband's friend, Denny Davies (Kevin Costner), a retired pro baseball player and World Series winner, begins to nose around the Wolfmeyer abode. He has been trying to broker a real estate deal but has, up to now, not been able to get hubby Wolfmeyer's cooperation. Now, he finds that the opposition is gone and Terry has all the makings of a drinking buddy for Denny. After their first round of drowning their sorrows together, Denny, who hosts a radio talk show not about baseball, announces that he is going to declare, on the air, that Terry is his latest, favorite drinking bud. A relationship of friendship, coupled with unrequited desire, develops between these two lonely, needy people.
Meanwhile, the four daughters move on with life as Hadley continues her college education; Andy eschews college and jumps at Denny's offer to be a production assistant at the radio station – where his producer, Shep (Mike Binder), immediately becomes smitten by the pretty, sexy young woman; Emily aspires to be a professional dancer despite her mother's misgivings; and, Popeye is in the beginning stages of sexual awareness, except that her "boyfriend" turns out to be gay.
Writer Binder tries to give shrift to all of these story lines and characters and has bitten off more than I think he can safely chew. The meat of "The Upside of Anger" lay in Terry's story, her confusion and overwhelming anger over being so unceremoniously abandoned. Joan Allen is a superior actress and takes it to the edge here. Terry makes no bones about her excessive drinking, even challenging her daughters to make an issue of her drowning her sorrows. She catches Andy in bed with Shep, one day, and when they all sit down to dinner, her withering stare makes the usurper's head explode – at least in Terry's fantasy mind.
Denny's arrival on the scene is awkward, at first, but a genuine liking takes hold between him and Terry and an odd sort of mating ritual begins. Kevin Costner really helps to anchor "The Upside of Anger" and makes his part of the equation a pleasant addition. Sure, he's a slob who is always trying to make a buck off of his former fame and comes across a seedy, sad sack. But, he proves to be a lovable slob who holds great affection for Terry and her girls.
I can appreciate Mike Binder's desire to take advantage of his pretty and talented younger stars but there is simply not enough time to give each their due and still maintain the core story between Terry and Denny. As such, character development is given lip service, with Hadley finishing college and announcing that she is pregnant and getting married; Andy becomes a talented radio producer; Emily strives for her own greatness only to be sidelined by some undefined illness; and Popeye just wants to get her first kiss. The multiplicity of subplots is a real distraction from Allen's potent performance and, unfortunately, takes much of the wind out of the film's sails.
Binder's direction is routine and he seems to dote too much on his own minor character of Shep. Less Shep, fewer girls and more of Terry, and Terry and Denny, would have helped things considerably. Production details are also by the book and without any real note. The whole air of "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. The film, to cover all the story threads, could have easily added 30 minutes, or more, to its run – but that definitely would not have been a good thing with Binder at the helm. I give it a C+.
More on 'The Upside of Anger'...
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
