The Upside of Anger (2005) User Reviews

The Joan Allen Show - highly recommended!

[anhedonia · 8/10 · 20 April 2005]

"The Upside of Anger" showcases many good performances but make no mistake about it, this movie's clearly the Joan Allen Show. And what a show she puts on.

About an hour into the film, Allen's Terry Wolfmeyer bursts into a room unannounced. Her reaction lasts just a few seconds, but they're priceless. Writer-director Mike Binder keeps the camera on Allen and what we get is a moment of sheer brilliance, one that should be shown to all acting students.

Binder does something awfully bold in this film. He lets his story revolve around two seemingly unlikable people - Terry and her neighbor, Danny Davies (Kevin Costner). They're two self-destructive, terribly selfish, occasionally boorish people who wallow in their own pity. Terry's furious and hurt because her husband left her for his Swedish secretary, while Danny's a former Detroit Tiger who now spends signing baseball memorabilia and running a radio talk show where he refuses to talk baseball.

They find solace in each other, not because they particularly like each other, but because they each need a drinking buddy. But thanks to two very fine performances, they're likable.

Much to Binder's credit, he doesn't simply settle his story on Terry and Danny. Wisely, Binder lets his story take its time. We get to know Terry's children, too. There's Andy (Erika Christensen), who's dating an older lech Shep (Binder); Popeye (Evan Rachel Wood), the youngest and budding filmmaker; Emily (Keri Russell), who feels unloved; and rebellious Hadley (Alicia Witt). These young women have their own personalities and spending time with them makes the story richer.

Costner is awfully comfortable playing Danny. In fact, Danny is Crash Davis, slightly older and a bit more cynical. Danny doesn't like clinging to his baseball past, but he knows that's all he's got. It's nice to see Costner in these roles. He plays them better than most and it's a loose, relaxed performance that never goes over the top.

But the movie really is all about Allen. It's tough turning a self-destructive and pitiful alcoholic into someone we want to spend time with. But Allen simply sparkles in the role. She's smart, quick-witted and fraying at the edges, trying to keep her wits about her. We not only understand her roller-coaster emotions, but also find them believable. Performances like hers are truly rare and Allen does nothing wrong here.

Had this film been released last year, Hilary Swank might very well not have walked away with her second Academy Award. Not only does Allen deserve a nomination for her remarkable performance in this film, she also probably deserves to win it.

What surprising about Binder's story is that despite all its warmth and humor, there's still a very nice and unexpectedly dark edge to it all. It's refreshing to see a film where the characters and the situations aren't exactly all that rosy. And even moments that could have easily been played for their melodrama are brilliantly underplayed and toned down. They work much better this way, than having characters resort to histrionics.

The film's voice-over narration, on the other hand, gets a bit preachy. And a revelation at the end is a bit questionable. Astute viewers would figure it out because that's really the only rational way to deal with it. Binder sort of lets us in on it very early on in the film.

We never get to see the title's real meaning in this film. That, presumably, comes after the end credits and all these characters get on with their lives. Nevertheless, "The Upside of Anger" is a good film studded with a great performance by one of today's finest actresses.

The Upside of Kevin Costner

[arichmondfwc · 7/10 · 25 April 2005]

Among the many pleasures that "The Upside of Anger" offers, Joan Allen and Kevin Costner's performances are very much at the center of it. We are used by now at Joan Allen's marvelous gallery of characters. Here, she reaches very high, creating a character that moves through highs and lows with overwhelming power. It is a performance so entertaining, apart from everything else, that you are really compelled to go wherever she wants to take you. Kevin Costner, however, is the biggest surprise. I'm even tempted to call it a revelation. He carries the soul of the character in his sleeve with disarming charm and humanity, not a single false note. I believed him, I loved him, I want to see him again. Mike Binder, the gifted writer director of this film, unfortunately, outstretches himself a little bit. He gives too much room to his character and instead of allowing it to grow with the famous less is more formula, he concedes himself a couple of extra long and repetitive scenes that slow down the proceedings in a rather dangerous way. If I had been the producer I would have fought like crazy to eliminate the supermarket scene. But I'm not going to dwell on it. The film is a triumph for the two leads. Thank you Joan Allen and well done Kevin Costner. I'll see you again at Oscar time.

Drama with some laughs and a twist

[ArizWldcat · 7/10 · 28 January 2005]

I saw this when it premiered at the Sundance film festival (although the director & actors didn't bother to come to our screening), and I enjoyed it. Kevin Costner plays a baseball player, but the movie is not about baseball; it deals with the anger the lead character feels when her husband disappears, along with his secretary. Joan Allen plays the wife of the missing man, and is the mother to four daughters, played very well by Evan Rachel Wood, Keri Russel, Erika Christensen, and Alicia Witt. Joan Allen was marvelous. We laughed many times when she glared in anger at different characters in the movie (and we were glad she wasn't mad at US! LOL...) I have not been a big fan of Kevin Costner in recent years, but thought that he did a great job as the man who helps Joan Allen's character pick up the pieces. The writer/director also has a role in the film as an older man who dates Joan Allen's daughter. I thought the message of the film was delivered well, and it was an entertaining story. There is a twist at the end that I truly did not see coming. I don't think it spoiled the movie, it was just unexpected.

Good But Not Great

[sgpfan · 6/10 · 10 June 2005]

This is a movie that draws audiences through its great character portrayals that run the gamut from the joy of rediscovering love, to potential and actual tragedy and heartache, as well as anger.

However, some may find the pace a tad slow while Costner-bashers (and there are many) will remark that he has finally found a role that suits him. Not that he shines here but the character he plays is a reflection of his actual life - a has-been who has seen better days and is clinging on to fame and celebrity by the skin of his teeth.

Regardless of what you think or feel about Costner, it is shocking to see him deteriorate so much physically as the effect of middle age has fully come home to hit him in the gut (pun intended!).

Costner's ability to fit into a family initially thought to have lost its husband/father figure to a mid-age love affair to an ex-office staff, only for the shocking truth to be revealed later, lifts the movie.

The great interaction between four daughters and an angry wife with Costner's father/suitor role does not come across as sickeningly sweet and is handled deftly by the players and good direction as the plot unfolds.

If you can spare a couple of hours and want a quiet movie that does not shock with violence or ridicule with over the top humour, this may be just the one to while away a rainy day with. Not Kleenex box at hand material, but sufficiently absorbing and engaging enough.

The Upside of Grey Goose.

[ross-48 · 16 April 2005]

Spoilers!!!!!!!!!!!

You call this anger??? You call this Transformation??? Anger is paying 8 bucks to see a film about the transformative power of anger and sitting for two hours watching Joan Allen give a stupefying performance as a boring, self-indulgent housewife. What an utterly pedestrian take on anger!

First, as far as anger goes, Terry seemed angry in a way only identifiable to a very sheltered WASPy class of people. I did not come away from this film understanding anything more about WASPy anger, or the social pressures of conformity felt by upper class women, or the challenges faced by women sheltered by marriage. What I did understand was that it's apparently quite easy to shock and offend people in Bloomfield simply by being snappish and socially inappropriate. Wow, how outrageous! Oh, that crazy, angry Terry Wolfmeyer! How absurd!

Secondly, the film's fatal mistake was opening *after* the Wolfmeyer's marriage had apparently dissolved and Terry was already angry--or grouchy, as the case may be. Terry's transformation through anger--the entire premise of the film--was left entirely to the pithy narration of the daughter: "My Mom had always been the nicest person, really." Really??? How so??? How did she change??? How was she different by the end of the film??? Give me something to go on!! Narration is not a substitute for plot--it's a weak cop-out. Just tell the audience the story instead of actually developing a script that demonstrates it.

Thirdly, I have to take issue with the way in which Shep--the only really noble, honest character in this film--was shabbily dismissed. Denny, who had hooked up with his friend's wife *a week* after the marriage broke up, physically attacked his friend Shep for making the most ambiguous possible pass at Terry weeks after she and Denny had split. What a hypocritical plot device! Shep was raked over the coals throughout the film for being an older (and unattractive) man who liked young women--Ohhh, how disgusting! How vile! What a bad, bad man! Bad to whom??? Shep was honest about who he was and what motivated him and he didn't care what people thought about him. And, he was the only character in this film who consistently stood up to Terry's whiny, childish behavior. He should have slapped her! She deserved it!

I supposed by the end of the film, the audience was supposed to share Denny's righteous anger--but truthfully, Denny just came off as a possessive, hypocritical lout. I thought liking Kevin Costner's character in a film was too good to be true--and I was right.

Basically, this film seems to have been made exclusively for an audience of highly repressed, self-involved, suburban middle aged women. There was a really annoying *wink and a nod* quality to the dilemmas faced by Terry--something I felt completely alienated by.

The only "Upside" of this film is the fact that it'll make a great contribution to the Lifetime network's menu of pithy, suburban drama. But I'll take real anger, thank you very much.

The Upside of Anger

[ryanIRISHIII · 7/10 · 31 March 2005]

I had no idea of the plot other than Kevin Costner was a retired baseball player who drank and smoked weed. I would see just about anything with Kevin in it. It seems to me that the director was trying to put too many different facets of emotion in the film... abandonment, grieve, anger, despair, self pity, humor, hatred, cynicism. As a divorced mother of six, some of the lines "hit too close to home" so that tells me that the essence of the pain was captured. I am still thinking about the ending which really surprised me. I can't even begin to imagine how a wife who felt as she did could handle that. All in all it was a good movie, and I recommend it to anyone who has lost control of their anger in trying to deal with disappointment and resentment.

Costner's Gift to Joan Allen

[gregorybnyc · 10/10 · 1 August 2005]

I've always admired Kevin Costner's laconic screen presence, in BULL DURHAM, TIN CUP, even DANCES WITH WOLVES, JFK and PERFECT WORLD. Now no longer leading-man handsome, he's developed into a first- rate character actor, and as a washed-up, alcoholic ex-baseball player-turned radio talk-show host, Costner offers company and comfort to Joan Allen as a drinking buddy in the bittersweet THE UPSIDE OF ANGER. Mike Binder's superb film about an abandoned wife of four teenage girls should qualify as one of this year's best films. But because it was released so early, did only respectable business, and isn't a vehicle for an over-hyped box-office attraction on magazine covers now, it will probably only get the respect of word-of-mouth. I saw this engrossing, deeply wonderful film when it opened last winter, and made up my mind that I would have to have the DVD as soon as it became available.

Joan Allen, as Terry Wolfmeyer dazzles us in a performance that is both comically and dramatically masterful as the drunken mother seemingly at war with her four beautiful daughters. Terry's rage over her husband's abandonment of her and their children, is a mean-spirited rebuke to her daughters, who try with great patience to survive their mother's theatrical bitterness. But mama has given them the gift of her humor, and I think it's what saves these girls. There's a look that Joan Allen gives when one of her daughters is doing exactly what she doesn't want them to be doing. What it is they are doing to upset their mother is always in doubt because she's never really making rational sense. She's only filtering her displeasure through the rheumy eyes of her last cocktail. There's a scene at the family dining room where Hadley, her eldest daughter (the ever fascinating Alica Witt, who should be starring in her own movies), announces she's pregnant with her second baby. Allen was none-to-happy that her daughter opted for marriage and motherhood over a career, and her beady- eyed stare at her daughter's latest announcement of her grand-motherhood is a comic masterpiece. But when Allen finally can no longer avoid facing her crippling anger, Allen breaks your heart. Having never had an outlet for her comic abilities, she's surprises you with her skill. That she walks this fine tightrope between both extremes says much for her talent as an actor.

Finally back to Costner. Denny Davies might have been a dangerous character for Costner to revisit. Afterall, he's played washed up or played out sports characters before. His career has suffered a very precipitous fall following the media-created debacle of his so-called grandiose ego in WATERWORLD, and the opportunities have been few and far between since then. But Denny is a rich character any actor would love to sink their teeth into, and Costner embraces Denny's humanity with consummate ease. Discovering his neighbor has been abandoned by her husband, Denny offers to keep her company while they drink. They warily circle each other during these boozy afternoons of watching television, drinking and not saying much to each other. And when that changes, you see the transition from friend to lover mainly through the eyes of Denny. When she first proposes they sleep together, it's Denny who chickens out at the last minute. But as their relationship develops, you see Denny reach out to Terry's girls in a way that is sympathetic but also gives them room to accept and then love him in return. This is a terribly important test for Denny. So when the youngest of the girls finally asks him if he plans to marry Terry, Denny comes to understand that the girls have welcomed him into the family. Costner is sensational in this film, but he keeps it all so low-key, always keeping the focus on Allen's character, and he ends up giving her the film--and rightfully so, I think. This is a gift to Allen. Costner recognizes this, and I think the movie is all the better for his act of generosity. This is a performance that people will talk about for years to come. Like Jeff Bridges and Dennis Quaid, Costner is one of our best screen actors, and it's great to see him in a role that is truly worthy of his fine talent.

Each of the daughter's is skillfully rendered by Erka Christensen, Evan Rachel Wood, Keri Russel and Alicia Witt. These young women look and act like siblings. Auteur Mike Binder has given himself a role as Denny's radio producer, who is romancing one of the daughters, much to her mother's disgust. He's funny, pathetic, and just a bit creepy as a Romeo with romantic ideas way above his station!

Binder's fine script gives this ensemble film the ballast that keeps you laughing and crying. He's found the emotional core in these character's lives, and the pace of the film, which clocks in at just under two hours, provides a sense of completeness.

Ultimately it is Costner's generosity as an actor that so disarms the viewer. In every shot, Joan Allen's Terry is the riveting center, with Costner playing to her every moment without stealing attention away from her. That earns my whole- hearted respect.

THE UPSIDE OF ANGER should be seen and savored by anyone who cares deeply about moves with something to say about the human condition. Binder's adroit direction makes this a film to set beside TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, AS GOOD AS IT GETS, and Lasse Hallstrom's vastly underrated SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT. Finally it's such a pleasure to see two pros such as Allen and Costner hit it right out of the park!

Paranoia Strikes Deep in the Heartland

[urnotdb · 6/10 · 7 May 2005]

Paranoia could be viewed as supreme egotism: why would everyone follow you? Why would they waste their time? Most things happen for reasons that have nothing to do with you. One thing I liked about this was it placed "normal" people in unusual, stressful situations and showed how they might react. Unfortunately, we often don't get a chance to work out our reactions in advance, as characters in a script. But it would be helpful not to strike back unless attacked. Maybe the point here was that anger can be useful, but ineffective if used indiscriminately. As dramatized in this family, there is a difference between "speaking your mind" and anger. Interesting plot twists, some implausible to some viewers. The ending summed up the message for me: why am I angry?

An Upside to This Year's Movies

[jhclues · 10/10 · 10 April 2005]

Life doesn't come with an instruction manual or a script to follow, it's basically improv on a daily basis, and as it plays out people and things often are not who or what they seem to be on the surface. It's reality, as opposed to the way you expect, hope or want it all to be; truth, as opposed to an individual perception of truth. That's life. And "The Upside of Anger," written and directed by Mike Binder, explores some hard realities that differ drastically from expectations and perceptions.

The film opens with a funeral, a somber note which in a sense prepares you for what is to follow, after a flash back of three years, at which point the story begins. Terry Wolfmeyer (Joan Allen) is at loose ends because her husband has run off with his secretary, leaving her and four daughters behind to fend for themselves. Angry, distraught and a stone's throw from bitter, Terry turns to alcohol to deaden the effects of what has been a life-altering experience. Luckily-- or maybe not-- Terry has a neighbor, Denny Davies (Kevin Costner), an ex-pro baseball player turned radio talk show host, with whom to share a drink and commiserate. Her daughters (three teens and one in college) are supportive, as well-- to a point. But they are each in their own way also struggling to understand why their father deserted them. By all accounts, this was in no way a dysfunctional, angst-ridden family, so the actions of their father is a mystery to them all. Naturally, it's a pivotal point in their lives, and before any of them can move on, especially Terry, they have to know why he did what he did. In the meantime, with or without this needed closure, life is happening to and around them.

Binder (who also appears in the film as the producer of Denny's radio show) displays an astute knowledge of human nature with this film, and how random the myriad twists and turns of life can be. He holds your attention from the opening scene (who's funeral is it, anyway?), and just when you think you know where the story is going it takes an unexpected turn. And he is in no way attempting to manipulate his audience; rather, he is giving you a reflection of the way life so often simply does not go the way you think it's going to. It's a succinct look at relationships, and of how fragile-- as well as resilient-- we all can be.

As Terry, Joan Allen sets vanity aside to create her character and turns in an Oscar caliber performance in doing so. When she gets up in the morning she looks like a middle-aged woman with insufferable problems and a hangover, a woman in the throes of coping with a traumatic experience who is desperate to reconnect with a life she no longer has and who will do anything within her power to hang on to what she has left. She's walking a tightrope over a deep abyss and she's understandably on edge, so when one of her girls tugs the rope and compromises her control and security, she quite naturally lashes out, proving the old adage you always hurt the one you love. There's a scene in which a grieving Terry draws her hands to her breast and, head lowered, utters a cry, and anyone who has ever known any kind of grief or loss in their life will at that moment know exactly what she is going through. It's a terrific piece of acting, a performance that is altogether affecting and memorable.

And, as performances go, Kevin Costner, too, puts vanity aside to create a character that is entirely convincing. Denny Davies is paunchy, his hair is thin and most of the time he looks as though he's had one beer too many. Still, he's engaging, and you get the feeling there's a complex individual hiding behind an external simplicity that perhaps helps to mask his true feelings about a lot of things in his life, including his career on the diamond. Why, for example, does he refuse to talk about baseball on his sports talk show? In it's purity, this is arguably Costner's finest performance ever.

Top notch performances are turned in, as well, by Erika Christensen, Evan Rachel Wood, Keri Russell and Alicia Witt as Terry's daughters, respectively, Andy, Popeye, Emily and Hadley; and by Binder himself as Shep. In the end, "The Upside of Anger" is an involving, memorable film that celebrates life and leaves you with a sense of hope, that no matter how bad things get we all have the capacity to get through it and somehow find the light at the end of the tunnel. And that's the magic of the movies.

Diary of an angry housewife

[jotix100 · 6/10 · 13 January 2006]

Certain films like "The Upside of Anger" resonate with IMDb contributors. In fact, the only reason we watched it was because of a kind friend's insistence in lending us a copy of the DVD. Mike Binder's film is not one of the worst things around, but if one really examines the basic premise about the head of the family's disappearance and never contacting his family in three years, it is just absurd.

What could have been so bad between Terry and her husband? True, he might have found another woman in his work place, which usually is the case, but to go away without ever contacting, at least, his daughters, doesn't make a bit of sense. Then again, what if he might have suffered an accident, or foul play was involved, why not go to the local police? These things are not explained in a movie that concentrates in how Terry, the wife, is left behind to drown herself in self pity and the vodka she seems to enjoy. We only see Terry getting on the phone to try to contact her former husband in Sweden, but she never completes the call.

The only valid excuse for watching this film is Joan Allen. But haven't we seen her before do other angry wives? While basically most of the comments are favorable for the film and her acting, this is a movie that doesn't deal with reality. The ending of the film proves how this family neglects to deal with it, especially Terry, who should have known better, but doesn't act on what should have been her primary concern about getting to the bottom of why the absent man leaves home without a trace.

The film is a variation of those Lifetime movies based on a supposedly true stories and targeted for women. Kevin Costner, who some people have praised to the high heavens is aging badly, as shown here and in "Rumor has it".

The movie defies the laws of credulity.

Upside Of Anger: Peterbilt-sized Plot Holes SPOILERS

[mkarl2 · 3/10 · 18 May 2005]

I adore Joan Allen, and was rooting for her. However, watching her, I'm reminded of a one-line review of Robert DeNiro in 'New York, New York' : "DeNiro plays a saxophonist like a clenched fist."

Inciting incident: offscreen, a husband allegedly runs off with his Swedish secretary - to Sweden, of all places.

Angry, hard-drinking wife cancels the credit cards. That'll show him.. If he was dead, then there'd be no husband-related balance changes to their bank accounts. The very dullest of intellects might notice the lack of withdrawals.

If he was dead, then where's the alleged Swedish secretary? Why didn't she come around? Why is there no missing-persons search? And where'd the rumor that they ran off to Sweden come from?

Terry says that she heard that her husband "wasn't talking about it to his co-workers": if he wasn't at the office, he couldn't talk about it, true, but the tiny point that he wasn't at the office at ALL didn't seem to make it through.

Kostner lets himself be filmed with unflattering stubble and body fat, gets to act slightly drunk most of the time, and looks like he enjoyed himself thoroughly. Although why he's attracted to Allen's spiky, completely unlikeable Terry character is utterly unexplained.

The four daughters were definitely all photogenic and each has fragmentary subplots.

Number One, the eldest, is preggers on graduation day and gives Mom the news that she's getting married. Exit stage left. We only see her again at the end, pregnant again. No babies in evidence.

Number Two is a wannabe dancer with stomach-aches and lots of conflict with Mom, which lands her in hospital, life in danger, oops, it's 'only' stress related, let's go to the ballet where Mom Will See It My Way And Let Me Live My Dream.

Number Three Doesn't Want To Go To University (way to rebel!) and instead gets involved with a sleazy radio producer, Denny's old friend.

Number Four, the youngest, tries repeatedly to seduce a moronic kid whose only topic of converse is bungee jumping, and it turns out he doesn't even do that, like Peter Sellers, he likes to watch. Oh, and he's gay.

Number Four daughter also carries the heavy-handed task of providing subtext, in the form of a stupid computer video ("..a CLASS assignment, Mother") about conflict and warfare between the sexes, which gives us too-often-repeated visuals of people hitting each other from old silent films, and gives her all too many opportunities for portentous voice-over crimes against this already crippled film.

Director/writer Mike Binder writes himself a role where he gets to entice Terry's juiciest daughter with a dream job, and then becomes her lover. He's the only one that ever tells Terry how hateful she is, getting slapped for his trouble. Kostner's Denny character, knowing full well what a sleazebag Binder's character is, goes ahead and gets Binder and Daughter Number Three together anyway. Sorry, aging male fantasy time.

The big revelation near the end of this film was a complete bust. The fiction was that Terry's husband had run off with his secretary and had no contact whatsoever.

But hey! He's been dead in a hole all this time!

For a few minutes after the big discovery-in-the-woods, I thought it was possible that Terry had killed him and hidden his body in the 80 acre wood behind their house.. now, THAT would have been a reversal worth waiting for, and would have explained Terry's total lack of interest in her departed husband's whereabouts. But it would've undercut the purported reason for all that vitriol.. but we could've re-understood it as guilt and anger at herself.. ah, the wasted opportunities.

But no, we get a long-delayed funeral, where Denny's finally wormed his way into the family. And of course the big, heavy-handed irony is that Terry's three years of good anger was wasted.. Oh, All The Damage She's Wrought.

The Upside of Anger is that we learn about ourselves and change

[gradyharp · 10/10 · 17 April 2005]

Mike Binder both wrote and directed this searingly important film; important for its concept, for its ensemble acting, and for performances by Joan Allen and Kevin Costner that are now the gold standard for the year by which all other award quality performances must be judged.

Anger, and how it paralyzes our emotional outlook and alters our perception of reality and works to destroy those around us, is the harsh subject of this examination of a well-to-do family of husband, wife and four teenage daughters. The story is narrated by the youngest daughter Lavender 'Popeye' Wolfmeyer (Evan Rachel Wood) and never were the words 'out of the mouth of babes' so pertinent. The mother Terry (Joan Allen) is introduced drunk, constantly in her nightgown with glass of vodka in hand, and she pretty has spent her days in that manner since her husband Grey 'left her with his 22-year-old Swedish office girl' without a note, a call, or confrontation with his family. Terry is consumed with anger, self pity, loathing, and barely manages to maintain a household, completely relying on her four daughters to cook, clean, shop, etc while she finds reasons to berate them for every act and motivation the girls show. Hadley (Alicia Witt) is the oldest and enamored with a boy Terry considers a waste of time. Andy (Erica Christensen) doesn't want to go to college but to become a reporter instead - a fact Terry refuses to consider. Emily (Keri Russell) prefers to follow her dream of becoming a ballet dancer and attending an Arts College that, of course, Terry refuses to allow. Popeye, the youngest, is hungry for belonging and wants desperately to be noticed by not only her mother but by boys, etc.

A neighbor Denny Davies (Kevin Costner) is an alcoholic ex-baseball hero who now has a cheesy but popular radio talk show produced by his buddy Shep (Mike Binder, yes, the writer/director!). Denny has been friends of the Wolfmeyers for years and shows up drunk, warmly offering himself as a drinking partner to Terry. The two spend their time drinking and watching television and watching the daughters each arrive at crises: Hadley gets pregnant and announces her engagement to Terry after everyone else knows: rage from Terry and an embarrassing scene at Hadley's announcement dinner. Andy gets a job at Denny's radio show only to fall into bed with the lothario Shep: rage and a public fight from Terry. Emily somaticizes her career frustration and ends up in a hospital with an ulcer: self-pity and depression from Terry. Denny slowly works his way into Terry's bed and become a surrogate father/lover to these five father/husband-deserted women. The ending is a shocker and cannot be revealed because it would destroy the fine story line of the film. But it begins as it ends and that is the part that leaves the audience aghast that they didn't suspect that turn of event.

Binder's script and direction achieve the impossible: he is able to create a family in disarray, deal with every aspect of anger, desertion, family ties, mother/daughter love (though severely tested), the needs of the 'victim' and how they can be tended. Amazingly he does this with a large does of comedy, acerbic dialogue, restrained responses, and a keen grasp of reality that makes this a film about a tough subject one that is engrossing and never off-putting.

The entire cast is pitch perfect: each of the actors who portray the daughters is exceptional. But the brilliance that radiates from the screen is the triumphant performance by Joan Allen. She inhabits Terry and despite the fact that she has every reason to make us loathe her character, she manages to keep her portrayal so sensitively nuanced that we stay close to her in this journey. She is simply amazing in her body language, her understanding of alcoholic behavior patterns, and her internalization of her needs at the expense of her ever-surfacing rage. Much the same can be said for Kevin Costner who gives the finest performance of his career in a role that could be pathetic and negative in the hands of a less capable actor. His comedic talents shine, but not at the expense of his enormous sensitivity to the five women with whom he ends up living.

Alexandre Desplat has once again created a movie score that has perfectly beautiful passages of music while always underlining the story appropriately. The cinematography by Richard Greatrex finds the perfect vantages that seem like windows in the hearts of each of the participants in the story. Highly Recommended.

There's more than one upside to the Upside of Anger

[deadclowncollege · 7/10 · 2 April 2005]

For some, The Upside of Anger will be little more than a beep under the radar. I guess part of the blame belongs to New Line Cinema's marketing campaign. With the prolific cast on board this doesn't seem too hard of a task (Or has Kevin Costner still not been forgiven for Waterworld?). Anyways, for those who do have the chance of seeing the film, they might find themselves enjoying the low-key romantic comedy. It's rather surprising a man directed The Upside of Anger, as it is more than anything else about female companionship. Director Mike Binder's look at these five women ranges from the ordinary (a character who has the ridiculous notion she's repulsive and fat) to the confusing (an utterly confounding where the women start laughing while a guy sits as oblivious as me). In a way, I feel like Kevin Costner's character- not always fully comprehending, yet oddly compelled.

Joan Allen plays Terry, a mother who suspects her husband is fooling around with a perky Swedish secretary. She finds comfort in the company of a retired baseball player (Kevin Costner) that she drinks with. It doesn't take too long for their relationship to turn physical and then something deeper yet. Terry has four daughters. The eldest (Alicia Witt) wants nothing more than to distance herself from Terry after college. Emily (Keri Russell) is a dancer workaholic who Terry is worried doesn't eat enough. Andy (Erika Christensen) is hired as a production assistant by the lowlife producer of Costner's radio show. And the youngest Popeye (Evan Rachel Wood) has a crush on a new kid.

Although it doesn't stray too far from the conventions of the genre, the film does try new things. Perhaps most notably, the Upside of Anger is a romantic comedy where the two characters rolling in the sheets (so to speak) aren't two attractive twenty-year olds. Also, while Terry and her daughters share a close relationship, they're rarely confidantes. A number of times they aren't even friendly to each other.

Also, Mike Binder effectively underplays the film. Something as mundane as a character slurping soup becomes an exercise in tense feelings. And the underplayed and relaxed nature helps draw attention to the performances. Kevin Costner's character could be imagined as the character in Bull Durham or Field of Dreams once the magic has gone. Although he's a drunk slob, he is also a kind and likable guy. All four daughters (particularly Evan Rachel Wood) give good performances. This movie however belongs to Joan Allen. Somewhat paradoxically with the film's underlying message, Allen's best scenes often draw from anger. In one scene, she catches Andy in bed with the producer and unable to say anything, she huffs off in Olympian fury.

For most of its one-hundred-thirty-five minute length, The Upside of Anger is a pleasant romantic comedy with something to say.

Still trying to figure out why she's so angry.

[FilmSnobby · 3/10 · 23 March 2005]

Sort of a Role-of-a-Lifetime thing for Joan Allen, who, after having spent years in the supporting-role trenches, probably deserves it. So, the inevitable question: is the movie built around her worth watching?

Eh, not really. But before I move on to the movie's structural faults, it's worth considering that another of the movie's faults just might be Allen's scene-stealing, scenery-chewing performance. Perhaps ill-advisedly encouraged by writer-director Mike Binder, Allen -- the actress -- behaves just as ungenerously to her fellow actors as the matriarch behaves towards her fictional daughters and other satellites like Kevin Costner's easy-going codependent neighbor. This is a shame, because the supporting cast (Evan Rachel Wood, Erika Christensen, Alicia Witt, and Keri Russell as the daughters, along with Costner and Binder) are quite charming and good in the film: they deserve better than to primarily exist as scratching-posts for the matriarch's petulance. Allen's character, while successfully conveying the distracted apportionment of care-giving and overall rearing to each of her kids (each of whom are pretty individualized, within the script's cramped parameters), is on the other hand too domineering to make us really like her. (Evan Rachel Wood continually narrates that her mother used to be a sweet-tempered person, but any evidence of sweetness left over from the past 50-odd years is lacking.) And LIKING her, it seems to me, would be a prerequisite in a movie like this, which, after all is said and done, is little more than an upscale *Lifetime* movie with a sprinkle of Woody-Allenian angst over it. Otherwise, we'll feel too encouraged to cheer when Costner breaks down her bathroom door after enduring one of her typical lacerating monologues. We'll perhaps feel a little too triumphant when Binder's character -- a sleazy radio talk-show producer egregiously dating one of Allen's daughters -- lays out to her in no uncertain terms why he's bedding the kid instead of her. (Allen, defeated, skulks over to the bar and falls off the wagon.)

But, after all, *The Upside of Anger* comes from the mind of *The Mind of the Married Man*, the aborted HBO comedy show that has become almost legendary for the misogyny cloaked under its middle-brow sophistication. Misogyny and middle-brow sophistication are certainly among THIS movie's problems. Binder's final insight seems to be: menopausal women can be grouchy! -- but they might get over it after awhile, as long as there's a non-threatening doofus (e.g., Costner's former jock) around who understands which one of them is wearing the proverbial pants. I suspect men will like this movie far more than they'll admit to, as it confirms their own opinions about uppity middle-aged rich broads. Imagine dating columnist Maureen Dowd! -- every man's worst nightmare. Clever women will probably glean what Binder's up to and therefore will not be fooled.

A final thought: Binder clearly doesn't know anything about the milieu of which he writes. You'll note that Allen has no lady-friends in the film: there are no socials at the country club; no Friends-of-the-Library gatherings; no slightly-Left-of-Center political Meetups. She's utterly without society, apart from her daughters and newfound drinking buddy Costner. This is all rather unlikely for a suburban duchess living in the genteel outskirts of Old Money Detroit. Even more unlikely, of course, is her nervous breakdown upon discovering that her husband has dumped her for his Swedish secretary. Quite apart from the knowledge that any divorce proceedings would be a slam-dunk in her favor, her new liberation would be far more joyful than Binder's "married mind" suspects. (Or fears.) In other words, it's not entirely clear what the hell this woman is so angry about: gorgeous house; four beautiful daughters; obliging hunk; lots of money. Given the current circumstances of the world, the problems presented here amount to a really small hill of beans.

3 stars out of 10.

True emotions are displayed in uncompromising film

[rosscinema · 6/10 · 24 April 2005]

Those expecting to see your conventional Hollywood romantic comedy will instead have a chance to view a film that refreshingly doesn't apologize for flaws the characters demonstrate and for the most part shy's away from most story contrivances. Story is about Terry Wolfmeyer (Joan Allen) who lives with her four daughters and is still feeling the incredible pain of her husband abandoning them. Terry drinks and lounges around the house watching coverage of the Iraq war on television as her daughters cook the meals and generally keep the house running. One day Terry is visited by her neighbor Denny Davies (Kevin Costner) who drinks a lot also and the two of them end up hanging out together and eventually starting a romance that leaves them both unsure of where it will lead.

*****SPOILER ALERT***** Denny is a sports radio host and former baseball player who never made much money and spends his time at home sipping Budweiser beer and autographing memorabilia to sell to fans. Terry is having trouble with her daughters such as Andy (Erika Christensen) who starts dating Denny's producer Shep (Mike Binder) who is in his 40's and also Emily (Keri Russell) who wants to be a dancer but ends up in the hospital. Terry also has to deal with Hadley (Alicia Witt) who unexpectedly announces she's pregnant and is going to be married, and also her youngest daughter Popeye (Evan Rachel Wood) who is in high school and is having a relationship (of some sort) with a boy who's gay.

This is written and directed by Mike Binder who plays Shep in the film and I think he does an admirable job of making sure that his script avoids the usual romantic comedy clichés although some critics lambasted him for the plot twist at the end. I personally didn't dislike the ending but I do feel that the film could be received just as strongly (or even more) without the revelation about Terry's husband. Binder's script asks the viewer to absorb a lot especially with all the subplots involving the 4 daughters and this does give the film's structure a sloppy appeal as it wanders back and forth from comedy and drama. The story in some ways is reminiscent of something James L. Brooks would write as the film gives the opportunity for it's characters to show both their humorous and serious sides and Allen is very much like Shirley MacLaine in "Terms of Endearment" as she struggles with family issues. Allen is very strong here and gives an unflinching performance as she allows her character to be very flawed and very human and the way Costner's Denny reacts to her is both realistic and poignant. I'm not one of those who walked away thinking I saw a very special film but I do think I viewed something that (for the most part) remained true to what the characters were really about and avoided the usual Hollywood contrivances.

A good movie, poorly billed.

[kainos_ktisis · 7/10 · 11 August 2005]

This movie really demonstrates what happens when a movie is billed wrong.

My wife and I rented it based on theatrical and DVD previews, which painted it as a light romantic comedy. We could have been more wrong.

"Upside of Anger" is, instead, a poignant movie about very real family problems. Although it has some funny moments, the movie is a drama, and a darn good one.

The reason it didn't get more stars out of me is because my expectations were so far off that it made it hard to enjoy it for what it was.

Kevin Costner plays the role he was born for (which he has played many times over): the washed up ball player with no prospects.

This ensemble cast delivers a very subtle performance, each very believable, yet without overshadowing any one performance.

Great story, strong actors

[olliedes · 10/10 · 10 February 2004]

The Upside of Anger was a wonderfully written script. The perfect blend of humor and sadness, consistent in real life. Each character was developed uniquely, with many different layers. Each character was matched by strong up and coming and veteran actors. Joan Allen as usual is a gem and proves that mainstream Hollywood is missing one of the great female leads of our time. Kevin Costner sticks out and steals the show. He's quirky but real and perfectly lovable. All the girls, although they did not get enough screen time, were capable, exceptional, actors with a bright future in front of them all. Especially the youngest daughter played by Evan Rachel Wood. This is a rare comedy that must be seen. Although the average American may find it slow with it's absence of car chases and sword fights, one can only hope that this movie will find it's audience and grow enough to fall into the laps of the average and broaden their minds.

The Producer

[tedg · 4 April 2005]

Good films are almost always nested in some way. This is a good. Oh, its not because Joan Allen is a good actress. I suppose she is, but her character here is an easy one to play and pretty much goes nowhere. And it is not so much because of Costner, though he really does act here: every nuance is perfect, even the not quite natural laugh. He's trained away that thin wavery voice.

No this is a good one because of how it is structured, _and_ that all involved are competent.

The structuring is of multiple nesting. One nesting: We see a funeral at the very beginning. As the movie progresses, we see it is a remake of "Terms of Endearment." Or so we think. Four daughters, each with a story — which one will die? There are at least two false leads until we realize that we are being toyed with.

This film is centered on Mike Binder's character. He has written himself in as producer, a radio show as surrogate for the movie. It stars Costner's character from his other competent movie: "Bull Durham," but later in life. Costner brings up a woman in the show, and everything follows from that, including and entanglement with a daughter.

Another fold: one daughter is a performer, another a producer (aspiring at first) another a producer literally. A final fold: the youngest daughter narrates the film, which is the very film she is making on her iBook.

Its this structure that allows us to be captured by the story, and the characters and the situation they spin.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Okay

[flakcfan · 6/10 · 25 March 2005]

The movie was okay. I thought Joan Allen, Alicia Witt, Erika Christenson, Keri Russell and Evan Rachel Wood were terrific in their roles. I'm a big Kevin Costner fan, but I don't see this as one of his best performances. It seemed as if he spent the first half-hour channeling Jack Nicholson, but Costner was much better during the rest of the movie, as his character, Denny, evolved.

I thought Mike Binder was good as the sleazy producer. But I had problems with Binder's writing; I didn't think he chronicled the passage of time that well, and some plot elements didn't make much sense. I did enjoy the music score; I know a lot of people haven't, but it's different, quirky. One thing, though: I scratch my head at the comparison of Denny to Crash Davis in Bull Durham. If Denny's like any Bull Durham character, it's probably Nuke LaLoosh.

One of the best to come out in 2005 so far.

[flashbeagle · 9/10 · 11 April 2005]

Once every so often a movie comes along that hits all the right notes with its audience. It has just the right amount of each element that makes a great film and then kicks it up a notch with more.

Mike Binder has done all this with his new film, The Upside of Anger. Upside of Anger opens at a scene from the end of a movie; a scene that stays in the audience's mind, making us trying to guess its cause all the way through the movie. We meet Terry Wolfmeyer, a middle aged woman with four daughters who is trying to keep their and her own life in balance. Terry's husband has just recently left the family causing Terry to spiral into alcohol and bitterness. Along comes Denny Davies, an ex-baseball player, current radio show host, and Terry's neighbor. He too, is a fan of the drink, and strikes a friendship with Terry along with a fatherly role for her daughters. At its root, it's Terry's story about how she deals with the continuous growing of her relationships, of her daughters, and of herself.

Mike Binder, the writer and director, has a great way of showing the lives of all his characters. He is able to make this movie just as life really is; its funny, depressing, uplifting, bittersweet, and sometimes tragic. He seems to be able to capture real life on camera and display it with all its truth and realism. The writing is completely intelligent, hilarious writing is mixed with scenes of great emotion. Binder never relies on action or dialogue that will cue laughter or tears; it comes naturally through the writing. It works differently for every person in the audience.

Joan Allen is fabulous as the angry mother, Terry. Her performance contains each the real emotion of a mother with all that she is dealing with. She plays it with vigor that strikes that fear in us that we all know mothers can emit, but we also see her lighter funny side. Kevin Costner does very well as Denny, who, surprise surprise, is a baseball player. His performance is hilarious as the washed up player who beams an empathetic hippie attitude. Costner, in his first good and well-written role in a while, is a relief to have. Also hilarious is Director, Mike Bender's Shep, Denny's radio show producer. The four daughters also add four different personalities to the family that interact very nicely.

The Upside of Anger is a wonderfully acted movie, and what's more, it is superbly written. It captures a true essence of family life. And, while its hilarious, it's a refreshing kind of humor that is very mature and not based on the stupidity that many people think we want to see. Mike Binder is successful at making a movie about the characters and about life that actually does a good job at representing both things. Upside of Anger gets 5 stars (out of 5)

flawed people are much more interesting

[lynton · 7/10 · 31 July 2005]

Joan Allen is in superb form here, abandoned by her husband, angry, and left to deal with four teenage girls – although they deal with her just as much.

It's a little long – all her girls go through various troubles – but her relationship with Kevin Costner (a retired alcoholic baseball player) is fascinating, as both characters are flawed and intriguing. The acting is brilliant...Allen could be up for an Oscar nomination she's so good, and this is Costner's best performance since 'A Perfect World'.

Writer/director Mike Binder's movie is populated by real and flawed people. It's an honest look how anger can effect people; admittedly, he needs someone to edit his own performances a bit, and there are plot holes, but this is still a good movie.

There is no upside of "anger"

[GBlivins · 1/10 · 3 April 2005]

This is quite possibly the worst movie of the last decade. Six hateful, spiteful characters with nothing to teach us, no wisdom to share, no insights to illuminate. Just vitriol and anger.

Do we really need to see 130 minutes of Joan Allen snipping at everyone that gets in the way of her "broodfest"? Don't we get that she's bitter and resentful after the first few scenes? Don't we understand the level of her bitchiness is deep, and the repercussions for trying to bring her out of her dark place are severe? So what if her husband left her for a Sweedish dish, why do I care? I never cared. Quite frankly, I would have left her for an ugly Romanian char-woman.

I've never seen a story filled with more rudderless losers. I think you could go to an AA meeting and have more fun. Hell, a funeral would be a comparative hoot.

What's worse, however, is that this movie tries to pass itself off as some sort of social commentary on the human condition. It thinks it knows something, or has something to say. Unless that message is: "people are bitter, angry people, that suck, and when bad things happen to them they suck even more, and can't pull themselves out of a death spiral even after three long, boring years of drinking and hatred" then fine, I guess it has a message.

Worse still, is that a lot of people are buying it. (Look at some of the comments on this site.) So let me help you... it's crap. Don't pretend it's something that it's not. Dark films with points have their place, but this isn't one of them. This is a dark, POINTLESS, film. "Full of sound and fury..." and all that.

The characters, too, don't have any pearls of wisdom to offer us. They walk around, drunk, high, or stupid the entire time. They don't even have reasons for doing what they do- they, all of a sudden, just do things. For example, when Joan's character gives up drinking (for a brief moment). Why? No explanation. Or when Costner's character confronts writer, actor, doofus radio producer, Shep, about sleeping with Allen's daughter and says "I should have stopped you earlier." (Oh, wow, how powerful.) Yeah, but that would have made you interesting. And who would have wanted that?

But, don't despair, all is not lost. Some fun can be had if you are drugged and forced to go see this... abomination. You can try to spot the hundreds of continuity problems. Here are a few to get you started: a dog that appears out of nowhere, a bedroom that gets a makeover halfway through, characters that appear and then disappear for no reason, seasons that change on a schedule unfamiliar with the pattern established over the last hundred million years or so... and, my favorite, a man who can fall into a hole, die, and while dead, cover himself up with boards. Nice.

The bottom line: if you waste your money on this film, there will be one more angry person out there and there is no upside to that.

The Upside of My Expectations

[aimless-46 · 9/10 · 13 September 2005]

After her performance in "The Ice Storm" it is no surprise that Joan Allen could carry a movie like "The Upside of Anger". Nor was it a surprise that she and Alicia Witt could beautifully play off each other in their confrontational mother and daughter roles. What did surprise was that the film featured equally strong performances from the other members of the cast. Even writer/director Mike Binder does a fine "on-screen" job as a slimy but not entirely unsympathetic radio producer. Kevin Costner would be wise to stay with this type of role (and with comedy) instead of big-budget epic stuff.

The casting of Witt with Erika Christensen, Evan Rachel Wood, and Keri Russell as the four sisters was inspired. It was refreshing just to see a film family that looked enough alike physically to actually be related to each other. Since Christensen looks so much like Julia Stiles they could have even added a fifth sister although their resemblance is so strong that it might be confusing. All the subtle birth order distinctions felt right. The oldest (Witt) was the most connected to mom even though it did not appear so on the surface. The second (Christensen-who absolutely glows on the screen) was determined to be different than her older sister. The third (Russell) was the most connected to the father, missed him the most, and had the least understanding of the mother. The youngest (Wood) was way ahead of the curve and the most perceptive character in the film. Watch for all this stuff because it is there, and watch how no matter how down the mother becomes she continues to monitor the welfare of her daughters.

Binder gave into the temptation to use cheesy special effect gimmicks several times (the explosion at the dinner table, the neighborhood transition from summer to winter, the ballet fantasy, and the daughters growing older during the funeral scene). Although done well they seemed out of place. Also Binder should review the Kent State shootings, there were four students killed-not six.

There is a spectacular shot at the wedding. Beginning as an over the shoulder shot of Hadley (Witt) sucking in her "plump" cheeks, the camera pans slightly right and moves toward the wedding party as the focus changes to bring them out of a blur.

The film's ironic twist in the last 15 minutes is borrowed wholesale from "Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice". I particularly liked Wood's beautiful narration which helped clarify the title and theme, necessary (or at least helpful) after this ironic story line twist. She managed to sound both detached and involved, it is actually the voice-over for her broadcasting class project. When we are suddenly forced to reevaluate everything that has gone before in what we thought was just an interesting comedy, Wood steps in and steers us to internalize the theme. They go out on a shot of Wood looking up from her Mac and smiling. Amazing.

This is the best of Binder's writing: "Anger and resentment can stop you in your tracks. That's what I know now. It needs nothing to burn but the air and the life that it swallows and smothers. It's real though, the fury, even when it isn't. It can change you, turn you, mold you and shape you into something you're not. The only upside of anger then, is the person you become, hopefully someone that wakes up one day and realizes they're not afraid of its journey. Someone that knows that the truth is, at best, a partially told story. That anger, like growth, comes in spurts and fits and in its wake leaves a new chance of acceptance and the promise of calm".

"The Upside of Anger" is one of those rare films that I believe everyone should make an effort to connect with, doing so will make you a better person. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Sort of Rambling and Tedious

[eht5y · 6/10 · 28 August 2005]

With 'The Upside of Anger,' Mike binder makes another stab at trying to be the Woody Allen of yuppie angst. Binder's last attempt in this genre--the exasperating 'Mind of the Married Man,' HBO's first and shortest-lived male-oriented take on 'Sex and the City'--was undermined by a pathological cynicism about the nature of love and the institution of marriage. The protagonist of that program (portrayed, in true Woody Allen style, by Binder himself) seemed constitutionally incapable of being satisfied with his enormous good fortune--great job, beautiful, intelligent, sensitive wife, newborn baby, etc. The show seemed to suggest that even the most picture-perfect of marriages is always on the brink of oblivion.

In 'The Upside of Anger,' Binder skips the brink and heads straight for the oblivion. Terry Wolfmeyer (Joan Allen) wakes up one morning to find herself abruptly abandoned by her husband, who has disappeared, presumably with his Swedish assistant to start a new life, leaving Terry in the lurch with their four precocious daughters--one in college, one a recent high school graduate who has elected not to pursue higher education, and two others still in high school. Terry immediately sets about drowning her sorrows in an endless flood of vodka, and almost instantaneously commences a combative flirtation with Denny (Kevin Costner), a washed up former baseball star who lives around the block, supporting himself with a sports radio show in which he refuses to discuss sports and by selling autographed memorabilia. We are assured by the girls (the film is narrated in voice-over by the youngest, 'Popeye,' played by Evan Rachel Wood) that Terry was once a sweet, caring, unassuming suburban housewife, but for the duration of the film she is a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown, swilling more vodka than a Russian sailor, picking fights with everyone from her daughters to Denny to the old guy down the street who chastens her for driving too fast through the neighborhood.

Allen's performance is typically superb, and it's fun (for a while, anyway) to watch her play against type. Costner--borrowing heavily from Jack Nicholson's turn in 'Terms of Endearment'--is refreshingly relaxed, likable, and humble (he put on 20 pounds for the role) as Denny, a has-been lush with a good heart who sees in Terry and her family a way to restore some meaning to his purposeless existence. Binder appears again, this time as Shep, Denny's sleazy radio producer, who seduces Terry's daughter Andy (Erika Christensen), which provides the catalyst for the film's most visceral confrontation (Shep gets his comeuppance, and while he deserves it, it's hard not to feel as if Binder is offering a sort of twisted mea culpa for the crime that was 'The Mind of the Married Man').

The girls all acquaint themselves well enough, but there isn't enough room in the picture for any of them to really resonate. Terry is most at odds with Hadley (Alicia Witt), the eldest, but beyond the natural mother-daughter tension, it's hard to see where the conflict stems from. Andy's dalliance with Shep gives Allen some great material to freak out over, but Andy seems almost to be just an excuse to get Binder's character into the mix. Keri Russell is lovely and appealing as Emily, whose ambition to be a ballerina is stifled by Terry's controlling pragmatism, and Evan Rachel Wood's Popeye is a pleasure to watch, even if she seems a bit excessively insightful and eloquent for 14--but with so many subplots hovering around a central plot line without a whole lot of acute tension, Binder's efforts to develop all 4 girls leaves the picture feeling muddy and unfocused.

And, of course, after all of the kvetching and public outbursts, Binder wraps everything up in a neat little bow with a surprising but highly unlikely twist at the end, so that everyone gets to live happily ever after. Most problematic is that the twist--which I won't reveal here--ends up undermining and effectively erasing the significance of Terry's emotional roller coaster, around which the entire picture is structured. There are other problems as well: why doesn't Terry have any friends, or, at the very least, any neighbors other than Denny checking in on her? Wouldn't one of the daughters at least try to contact their father, for Terry's sake if not their own? How much money do these people have, and where's it all coming from? With her husband gone, Terry seems to do nothing but drink with Denny and go to the grocery store--what did she do with herself before her husband disappeared?

The dialog is witty and urbane, and it's fun to watch charming and attractive actors populating the pristine suburban environs (the film is almost worth watching just for Terry's kitchen and dining room), so the film has its pleasures. It merely fails to achieve the sort of profound insight it seems to be grasping for. This is, in essence, the fatal flaw of Binder's style: despite all of the wit and neurotic humor, in the end, he wants us to get 'the moral of the story.' He is perhaps a bit too eager to tell the audience what it's all supposed to mean, and that, by god, this is important stuff. I mean, really--how seriously can we take the neurosis of a woman who lives in a million-dollar home, has extensive funds and no need to work, four gorgeous and intelligent girls, and a hunky good-time-Charlie around the corner who smiles and strokes her ego when she vents her spleen at him? Binder would be much better served to do away with the trite, pedantic narration and put his trust in the talents of Joan Allen, who, even as a bitter alcoholic, transmits the kind of wisdom and insight even the finest of writers are rarely capable of on their best days.

Lost Opportunity

[victorlaszo · 3/10 · 13 April 2005]

Terry Wolfmeyer (Allen), wife and mother of 4 daughters, has to face the life after her husband suddenly disappears, apparently with his secretary, to Sweden. Left alone to raise her daughters, she quickly discovers the comfort of Gin & Tonic, in company of her next-door neighbour Danny (Costner), a once-great baseball star turn radio DJ. The drinking buddies slowly evolve into a relationship, becoming her source of strength in overcoming her husband's defection and concentrating on her daughters again.

While the performance of Costner and Allen are pretty convincing, the story fails to deliver at many points and we are left wondering why we should care. Rich people with rich people's problems. Both Terry and Danny are way too financial secure to convincingly convey any empathy and the most interesting and likable characters, the daughters, don't have the opportunity to fully develop. Even the surprising twist-ending ultimately fails to deliver.

In short it's an absolutely forgettable movie, a lost opportunity. The only highlight is Kevin Costner who has never been so good at being so ordinary.