The Upside of Anger (D+ or 1.5/4 stars)
'The Upside of Anger' is a dramedy written & directed by Mike Binder. Terry Ann Wolfmeyer (Joan Allen) becomes bitterly distraught when she realizes that her husband has left her & their 4 teenage girls. Because he's run off to Sweden with his secretary, Terry becomes a lean, mean alcoholic and enjoys drinking with her neighbor, Denny (a decent Kevin Costner). They like each other, a lot. But can she & her daughters lower their walls to let him in? Ugh, who cares? I was so put off by this overacted, uber-sensitive, soggy mess. It may be the main idea, but I don't think I'm 'supposed' to hate the characters as much as I do.
As if losing her husband isn't enough, Terry's 4 headstrong teens are as rebellious as they come. Hadley (witless Alicia Witt), a college student, hates her mother and can't wait for school break to be over. Emily (Keri Russell) wants to be a professional dancer, but no one takes her seriously. She loathes the idea of going to a 'regular' Detroit university. Andy (Erika Christensen) enrages her mom by defying the idea of college & igniting an affair with her boss, an older man (the director of this contrived film). And 'Popeye' (Evan Rachel Wood), while the youngest, poses the biggest problems as she experiments with drugs. Good God, you'd never find me anywhere near this estrogen-charged household, even if you paid me. Luckily (or unluckily), Denny is willing to wade through the tumultuous waters.
Denny, an ex-baseball player who's relegated to chatting on-the-air, has a place in his heart for Terry ... though, I can't see how. He loves to drink, but she's a full-fledged alcoholic at this point. Can he stay her course? Will the daughters drive him away, or will they accept him in the wake of their father's absurd disappearance? How can they move forward with their hectic lives when mom is immersed in a vindictive, drunken, semi-romantic state? Hell, I'd also run far, far away, search for a new family, & never look back.
This movie ends on an utterly ridiculous note (involving the truth surrounding Terry's missing husband). Maybe I'm losing my sense of humor, but for me, the conclusion just tops off this already exasperating so-called comedy. I mean, some jokes are bitingly funny. But there's too much dark humor, and not enough interesting drama to coincide. There's only so much of an onslaught of misery I can handle with 2 hours. Joan Allen's character is so self-destructive, so obnoxious, so bitchy (I can't imagine her ever having been happy ... as a prologue suggests), that I just wanted her to shut up. I felt like screaming at her "Get over yourself. Your upper-middle class life with a decent guy & 4 beautiful girls ain't so bad!" This movie in nothing but an unrealistic, annoying, yuppie-tastic distraction.
As if losing her husband isn't enough, Terry's 4 headstrong teens are as rebellious as they come. Hadley (witless Alicia Witt), a college student, hates her mother and can't wait for school break to be over. Emily (Keri Russell) wants to be a professional dancer, but no one takes her seriously. She loathes the idea of going to a 'regular' Detroit university. Andy (Erika Christensen) enrages her mom by defying the idea of college & igniting an affair with her boss, an older man (the director of this contrived film). And 'Popeye' (Evan Rachel Wood), while the youngest, poses the biggest problems as she experiments with drugs. Good God, you'd never find me anywhere near this estrogen-charged household, even if you paid me. Luckily (or unluckily), Denny is willing to wade through the tumultuous waters.
Denny, an ex-baseball player who's relegated to chatting on-the-air, has a place in his heart for Terry ... though, I can't see how. He loves to drink, but she's a full-fledged alcoholic at this point. Can he stay her course? Will the daughters drive him away, or will they accept him in the wake of their father's absurd disappearance? How can they move forward with their hectic lives when mom is immersed in a vindictive, drunken, semi-romantic state? Hell, I'd also run far, far away, search for a new family, & never look back.
This movie ends on an utterly ridiculous note (involving the truth surrounding Terry's missing husband). Maybe I'm losing my sense of humor, but for me, the conclusion just tops off this already exasperating so-called comedy. I mean, some jokes are bitingly funny. But there's too much dark humor, and not enough interesting drama to coincide. There's only so much of an onslaught of misery I can handle with 2 hours. Joan Allen's character is so self-destructive, so obnoxious, so bitchy (I can't imagine her ever having been happy ... as a prologue suggests), that I just wanted her to shut up. I felt like screaming at her "Get over yourself. Your upper-middle class life with a decent guy & 4 beautiful girls ain't so bad!" This movie in nothing but an unrealistic, annoying, yuppie-tastic distraction.