2005 – The Upside of Anger
- Title: The Upside of Anger
- IMDb: link
Released ten years ago, writer/director Mike Binder‘s The Upside of Anger is an underrated film built around a terrific performance by Joan Allen as the pissed-off matriarch of a family struggling to keep it together after her husband has disappeared (presumably to live with his secretary in Sweden). The woman’s life is further complicated by varying states of disrepair of her relationships with her three daughters (Erika Christensen, Keri Russell, Alicia Witt, and Evan Rachel Wood) and a burgeoning romantic relationship to a former Major League pitcher turned radio host (Kevin Costner) who, despite the woman’s rough edges, quickly falls for Terry and her family.
Along with Allen’s performance (arguably the best of her career as the unlikable but somehow still lovable Terry) the film gives each of the daughters strong roles dealing in their own ways with their mother’s constantly boiling disposition. Russell, Christensen, and Witt each bring something different to their roles as Evan Rachel Wood shines as the youngest sibling who is forced to grow up too quickly due to her father’s abscence and mother’s consequent behavior.
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It’s nice to see two main actors comfortable with getting older, it really shows in their performance and adds great depth to The Upside of Anger. Kevin and Joan both inhabit their roles and show life as it is, not always pretty and perfect, but livable. The Upside of Anger is a film for adults about falling in love again and learning how to take it in the chin when life throws you those unexpected punches. Be prepared to laugh, cry, pissed off and laugh again; a well done film compared to the likes of American Beauty and Sideways.