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Movie Review - The Upside of Anger (2005)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Mike Binder |
| Starring: |
Joan Allen, Kevin Costner, Erika Christensen, Evan Rachel Wood, Keri Russell, Alicia Witt, and Mike Binder |
| Rated: |
R (for language, sexual situations, brief comic violence and some drug use) |
| Length: |
118 minutes |
| Genre: |
Romantic Dramedy |
| Tagline: |
Sometimes what tears us apart helps us put it back together. |
| Studio: |
New Line Cinema |
| Website: |
Upside of Anger |
| Release: |
April 1, 2005 (wider) |
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PLOT
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Terry Wolfmeyer's (Allen) husband has just left her, turning her into the super wainch from Hades. Left on her
own to raise her four stubborn-headed daughters, Terry decides to abuse the alcohol. She decides to complicate
things even further when she starts hanging around with Denny (Costner), a former baseball star (what else?)
who is now a radio DJ also prone to alcoholism. Her daughters have problems of their own, and having to deal with
their mom's starts to become overwhelming. Kevin Costner's 48th role as a baseball player ensues.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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The Upside of Anger isn't really what I'd call "my kind of movie." What I mean by that is yeah, I enjoyed
watching it, but it's not a movie I'd typically pay to see at the theater, nor is it one I'll add to my DVD collection.
And it's not one that convinces me to run down the street recommending it to anyone who'll take the time to listen to
me rather than running the opposite way because they think I'm just some lunatic screaming about how people should
go see a silly movie. But what do you expect me to think about a movie whose romantic leads are 49 and 50 years old?
The female lead is Joan Allen. Life be stank for her because her husband just left her with four daughters, one
who hates her and two or three who are leaning that way. She has enough problems of her own, and she really
doesn't seem to want to concern herself with those of her daughters. That may be why she isn't very supportive of
their life choices. She wants them all to go to college, and she isn't too thrilled when Erika Christensen announces
she's getting a job instead, and she totally freaks out when Keri Russell gets accepted to a music college, or a
"new age" college as Joan likes to think of it.
So Joan walks around most the movie acting like the chip fell off her shoulder and wedged firmly up her rump crack.
Her solution to these trying times? Booze it up, and hook up with male lead Kevin Costner. Meanwhile, her
daughters decide to screw up their own lives. Alicia Witt gets pregnant before college graduation and decides to
get married, Erika gets a job at Costner's radio station and decides to sleep with the slimeball producer (Mike
Binder) to further her career, and Keri starves herself while training to be a dancer, eventually landing in the
hospital. Oh, and the youngest daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) tries to win the love of a gay boy who looks so feminine
it makes Richard Simmons appear to have testosterone.
So this isn't exactly your family down the street, and I'm thankful that I can't relate to any of the characters.
Oh sure, my mom's been known to drop the wainch card on us every now and then, and I know I absolutely broke her
heart when I decided to study engineering rather than becoming a lawyer, but thankfully she didn't become an
alcoholic over it. But you don't have to be able to relate to the characters to sympathize with what they're
going through.
That's the funny thing with this movie. None of the characters are really all that likeable, although I suppose
I felt the most sorry for Keri Russell. But all the actors do such a good job that they at least make you feel
somewhat interested in how everything will turn out. I guess it's one of those feelings where you might not want
to be best friends with any of them, but you wish them the best of luck. Kind of like Joan Allen herself. She's
a good actress, but I'd never see a movie just because she was headlining it. But I wish her the best and
certainly don't want to see her get hit by a truck. Know what I'm sayin'?
For most of the movie we're watching a little slice of messed up life, and I have to admit that it's
refreshing to see a white trash family that is from the North. Typically, these kinds of characters are portrayed
as living in a trailer park in the deep South. So we're left to witness one wrong turn after another. Which is
fine, but after a while you start to wonder if there's a point.
And there is. We eventually find out what the upside of anger is, and I'm afraid the movie's explanation is
of the lame, faux-philosophical variety. But what's even lamer is the impetus that brings the family together to learn
from their horrible experiences. There's a twist at the end that is admittedly unexpected, but once you start
to think about it, you realize it doesn't really make much sense. It opens up way too many plot holes and
questions, especially considering the three year time period the movie covers. But I won't lose any sleep over
it. I wasn't expecting much from this morally ambiguous dramedy for middle-agers, so I was just happy that I got
more enjoyment from it than I thought I would.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Mike Binder wrote the script specifically for Joan Allen.
- Johnny thinks Erika Christensen looks a little like Julia Stiles. They have matching round faces.
- Binder said that Kevin Costner's character is a combination of baseball players Denny Mclean and Kirk
Gibson.
- Binder wrote and directed the underrated Crossing the Bridge, starring Stephen Baldwin.
- Johnny thinks Keri Russell's hair looks better straight as opposed to the frizz she had going on in
Felicity.
- Joan Allen was in All the Rage with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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This is definitely a movie that wouldn't get mama's stamp of approval. There is enough alcohol abuse, sexual
situations (no nudity), and profanity (including quite a few f-bombs) to keep the easily offended squirming
throughout. This definitely isn't for kids. The "adult storyline" won't keep the interest of too many people
under the age of 20.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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The trailer didn't excite me, so I guess you could say I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I would.
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THE GIST
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The Upside of Anger is just one of those movies that falls into the same category as Something's
Gotta Give. The actors do a great job, it's enjoyable to watch once, but ultimately it's not something I'd
go back to. Viewers who fall into its targeted demographic (i.e. probably over 40 years old) are likely to get more
out of it than I did.
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