The Upside of Anger Movie Review:


Critically acclaimed writer-director-actor Mike Binder brings us deep inside the world of a family on the bridge of failure. Binder is probably best known for creating and starring in the HBO comedy series “The Mind of a Married Man” which poked fun at how much a man’s world changes when he finally gets married.

This time out, Binder takes on more serious subject matter and assembles an amazing cast.

Binder’s “The Upside of Anger” finds housewife Terry Wolfmeyer (Joan Allen) on the brink of collapse when her husband disappears. Terry suspects he has been cheating on her for a while now and he finally decided to leave her and their four nearly grown-up daughters (Alicia Witt, Erika Christensen, Keri Russell, Evan Rachel Wood).

Down the street from Terry lives retired baseball star Denny Davies (Kevin Costner), whose not quite sure what to have for breakfast Budweiser or Coors. Davies makes his living by hosting a radio talk show where he talks about everything except baseball much to the dismay of his producer Shep (Mike Binder).

Davies wanders down the block to the Wolfmeyer house so that he can talk to Terry’s husband about a land deal. Davies has no idea what he is stepping into. Denny Davies life is about to change in a very big way.

What is poignant about “The Upside of Anger” is that is probably one of the best dramas about family since “Ordinary People”. It has honesty, frustration, screaming, compassion and all the other ingredients that make families interesting. It’s an amazing look at one family’s evolution.

I was utterly blown away by the performance of the great Joan Allen. This woman is good in everything she does but still is barely honored by Hollywood. Her rugged, angry ice-queen Terry is so utterly flawless that it’s hard to see where the real Joan might be. She is absorbed and entranced in her character.

The opposite of Allen’s character is Costner’s drunk of a neighbor. He is like some old sheepdog that your kid brings home and still insists on eating out of the garbage. Costner is great in this rather laid back role which is the antithesis of Allen’s ice queen.

There are a lot of great scenes between these two actors that is the cornerstone to this film.

The daughters in the film are all played by upcoming great actresses but each of them really never has enough screen time to really match the performances of the adults in the piece. Still it is amazing casting bringing these four together.

I also really like Mike Binder as the sleaze-bag Shep. Why they gave this guy the name of a dog, I am not sure. Binder is perfect as this “morally-challenged” guy who perfectly accents Costner’s sleazy side.

There are times when you want to throw your popcorn at the screen, there are times when you may want to cry and there are also those times that may cause a tingling sensation run the length of your spine. This rich landscape of performances, keen script-writing and character development are the backbone of what makes a true drama so inspiring.

“The Upside of Anger” is what you can describe as a near perfect drama.

So Says the Soothsayer.



Dean Kish

The Upside of Anger is an amusing and emotion filled adult comedy from writer/director Mike Binder. However, the reason this film is worth a look is for the outstanding performances by Joan Allen and Kevin Costner.

Allen plays Terry Wolfmeyer, a wealthy housewife that soon learns her husband has left and allegedly fled to Sweden with his much younger secretary. Terry is left angry and depressed in her massive home with her four daughters, whose ages range from early twenties to fifteen years old. With her anger growing each day, Terry turns to guzzling Greygoose vodka quick and often. She finds a drinking buddy in her obnoxious neighbor, Denny Davies, played by Costner. Denny is also a drunk that is a famous ex-baseball player who now has his own sports radio talk show, where he talks about everything but sports. He also degrades himself by working out deals of signing baseball memorabilia to get by financially.

The four daughters all have a part of their mother’s personality, but are also opposite in character. Hadley (Alicia Witt) is the oldest daughter that is close to graduating from the University of Michigan. Andy (Erika Christensen) has decided not to go the college route, but to just work. More drama is unveiled when Denny gets Andy a job as a production assistant at his radio show, where she begins dating her 40-year old boss Shep (Mike Binder). Emily (Keri Russell) plans to attend an Arts College for dancing after her senior year, but Terry continues to remind her that her plans will never prosper. The youngest is the 15 year old Popeye (Evan Rachel Wood), who is slowly adjusting to nature of adolescence.

All of the girls have anger about their father, but they seem to only fight with their mother, not with one another. The also all think Denny is funny, and as the film progresses one of the daughters even has the courage to ask him if he will every marry her mom.

The Upside of Anger is an emotional drama with effective light comedy that is for sure about “anger,” but also a likeable character study from the mind of Mike Binder. Besides serving as the film’s writer and director, Binder also suitably plays the “sugar daddy” Shep. The dialogue for the film is witty and never bogs down with too many sappy clichés once things begin to go bad. An example is that one of the girls becomes ill, but Binder is too smart to wash it out with a huge apologetic emotional scene between the daughter and the mother. Though Denny and Terry are wonderful characters, there probably could have been more focus and development of the four sisters. The film did not have the time to do so; perhaps only having three instead of four sisters might have worked better, to where they all don’t seem so transparent.

There is also a drastic twist in the final act that really hurts the film to where questions of clarity arise. Perhaps if the issues of clarity would have been hinted at or briefly touched on in the first half of the film, then the twist would have made more sense, instead of really being a downfall.

Binder is a comedic writer that previously created The Mind of a Married Man for HBO, he knows character and he knows comedy. His direction is stable and strong at moments, and he is clever enough to let Allen and Costner deliver the film’s goods.

As Denny Davies, Costner delivers his best work in awhile. He was convincing in Open Range, which he also directed. Denny is the best comedic work of his career outside of Bull Durham. For the first time in awhile Costner seemed to be having fun while performing as this retired, out of shape, and beer chugging talk show host. The chemistry between Costner and Allen is fascinating and neither disappoints. Allen is superb and will probably get another Oscar nomination for her work as Terry. Her nonverbal cues, intense stares, and blended levels of intoxication are all contributing factors to her multi-layered performance. The four actresses playing the daughters are mild at best. Alicia Witt delivers the most laughs of them all. Erika Christensen smiles a little too much, but is better than she has been lately. Keri Russell still lacks the range to keep up with a strong Hollywood cast, and young Evan Rachel Wood ventures into the milder side of her Thirteen character as the youngest daughter. It seems that perhaps switching around the actresses’ roles might have worked better. Russell probably should have played the eldest college bound daughter, with Witt playing the working production assistant, Christensen as the would be dancer, and of course Wood would have had to been the youngest.

The Upside of Anger has ending that does not add up to its set circumstances and may disgruntle moviegoers. Overall, the film is enjoyable and has performances by Joan Allen and Kevin Costner that should not be missed. Binder seems to be on the right track to becoming a successful filmmaker; he just needs a few more films under his belt.

Bailey Henderson

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