March 21, 2005 -- “The Upside of Anger” is a hilarious movie aimed at adults. Few movies these days aim at adults, or even above the waist, so this film is to be treasured. It has smart, scathing dialogue, wonderful performances by the lead actors, and the funniest, most toxic, angry drunk woman character since Anne Bancroft's Mrs. Robinson in “The Graduate.”

Joan Allen (“The Bourne Supremacy”) stars as said angry woman, Terry Wolfmeyer, in this film written and directed by Mike Binder (“Blankman”), who also appears in the film as a despicable cradle-robbing hound, Adam “Shep” Goodman. Terry is devastated when her husband runs off with a younger woman, leaving her alone with her four teen to twenty-something-aged daughters, Andy (Erika Christensen of “Swimfan”), Lavender “Popeye” (Evan Rachel Wood of “The Missing”), Emily (Keri Russell of “We Were Soldiers”) and Hadley (Alicia Witt of “Vanilla Sky”). Terry boozes it up and harasses her daughters, but they are tough and give as good as they get. With her husband out of the picture, a neighbor, Denny Davies (Kevin Costner of “Open Range”) starts hanging out with Terry.

Denny is an ex-baseball player who hosts a local radio talk show. He has always liked Terry and wants to pursue her romantically, but is held back at arms length by her anger. His patience has limits, however. Terry's daughters also suffer in the toxic atmosphere created by her anger. The movie has scene after hilarious scene spiced with witty, smart dialogue, peppered with memorable one-liners. The dour opening scene will have you wondering who died and the final plot twist puts a dizzying spin on the whole story, resolving a lot of issues in one deft stroke.

Joan Allen gives an Oscar-worthy performance as the ultimate mad housewife. She's vulnerable and formidable at the same time, delivering a hateful head-exploding stare in one memorable scene. There are few good roles for women these days, especially women in the 40+ age category, and Allen makes the most of this opportunity. Costner also gives a strong performance. When he finally loses patience with Terry and confronts her, it is one of the highlights of the film. Costner deftly handles the murky waters of this dangerous and touchy romance. Binder also gives a strong supporting performance as Denny's womanizing radio producer. He has tough confrontations both with Denny and Terry.

This is the funniest movie I have seen this year, a bit better than “In Good Company.” Joan Allen's great performance is the best I have seen by any actress this year. It is a performance that is going to be hard for anyone to top the rest of the year. In an era when most comedies are mired in inept, gross, slapstick, or juvenile humor, this movie flies high above the tacky mob. It is refreshingly sophisticated and adult. This film rates a B+.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2005 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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