Although it has a somewhat weak ending, The Upside of Anger is a good drama mixed with some laughs thanks to its two main stars - Kevin Costner and Joan Allen.
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The film focuses on the anger and bitter life of Terry Wolfmeyer (Allen) after she determines that her husband has left her and her four daughters to go to Sweden with his secretary.
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The daughters, played by Alicia Witt, Keri Russell, Erika Christensen, and Evan Rachel Wood, watch as their mother self-destructs into an alcoholic who can’t even bring herself to call her husband to demand a divorced.
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While all this is happening, ex-baseball player turned radio talk host Denny Davies (played by Costner) appears at her door, and in some odd way enters the broken family’s life.
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At first, Denny is just a drinking partner for Allen, but the two quickly develop a strange romance. Although their relationship is never clearly defined, he becomes a father figure to the youngest daughter (Wood), and even practically moves into the home.
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Even with her new romance with Costner, Allen is never able to let go of the anger she has of her husband’s sudden leaving, and still cannot bring herself to try to reach him or end the marriage. Instead, she frequently takes her hostility out on Denny or one of the daughters and continues to drink way too much.
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Thrown into this mix are the four daughters who all have minor side stories, but none are fully developed enough to matter. Wood’s character, who actually narrators the movie, is in high school, Russell wants to be a dancer, Christensen wants to skip college and go straight to work, and Witt is graduating from college and getting married.
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Although the movie deals with some heavy issues, such as the emotional pain of a broken marriage, its tone is kept light mostly thanks to Costner. His character is a sort of mixture between the roles he played in Bull Durham and Tin Cup, but aged and is far from his prime.
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Like Allen, Denny finds himself at a crossroads in his life with no direction and no desire to pick a path. Instead, he would rather drink, and ride on little money he can make from his name – a point brought out by the fact that he is willing to do any mall opening if the money is right.
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When Costner falls for Allen, he begins to see that there is a chance for life with her and her daughters. Of course, he doesn’t know how to make this life happen and we are treated to lots of laughs as Costner and Allen continue to collide over just how they define their relationship.
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There is a twist at the end of the movie that brings the story full circle, but I won’t reveal it. I felt the twist hurt what was a good movie because it wasn’t needed, and created too many plot holes to the overall story.
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The plot holes are obvious when you watch the film, but can’t be detailed because it would give away the twist and I don’t want to do that. The film’s twist was almost like they needed something to tie the whole story together, but couldn’t figure out a better way to do it. Frankly, it is something you would expect from a television soap opera.
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Another problem in the film is the fact that not enough time is given to the four daughters. Even though Wood is the narrator of the movie, the daughters almost seem interchangeable. They also don’t seem to serve a purpose other than motivation for Allen to drink more and become angrier at different times in the movie.
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It is also odd that none of the daughters or Allen ever discuss Denny or the fact that he practically lives with the family. Even though the film takes place over about three years, the daughters still seem a little too accepting of their mother’s new boyfriend and his place at the dinner table.
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The DVD comes with some special features that include eight deleted scenes – such as one where Allen dreams of catching her cheating husband in bed and killing him; a making of feature; and commentary from Allen and the film’s director Mike Binder.
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Even with the film’s problems, it is still very much worth watching and entertaining. Costner and Allen are good in the movie, and it will make you laugh even with a subject that can be a bit on the deep side of life.
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I highly recommend the movie to anyone wanting to watch a good drama that takes a look at life and the situations it throws at us. The film has enough laughs to keep from being depressing, but also takes a good examination of anger and relationships.
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The Upside of Anger is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is no release date for the UK. Visit the film’s database for more information.
DanaJul 31st, 2005 - 15:35:41
Horrible, horrible, horrible!!! Kevin, you are such a slob in this! And the ending! OMG! I hated it! Go find your husband, lady, quit drinking, and for god's sake, see your grandchild every once in awhile! (One of her daughter's got married, had a baby, and we never saw the baby!! Then she just happens to get preggers AGAIN but we never saw the first child!) Arrrggghhh! A total waste of 2 hours of my life!!!!
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