The Upside of Anger

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.