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THE
UPSIDE OF ANGER
review
by Terri Wall
The Upside Of Anger, starring Joan Allen, Kevin Costner
and a group of extremely talented young actresses (Alicia Witt as college
student Hadley, Keri Russell as aspiring and gifted ballerina Emily, Erika
Christensen as college-rejecting, career driven, Andie and Evan Rachel
Wood as the youngest daughter, Popeye) is an emotionally satisfying, amazing
movie.
Joan Allen gives what may well be the best female screen performance I
have ever seen as Terry Wolfmeyer, a woman whose husband has left without
a word. Her performance is so intenal and yet so crystal clear to the
audience. Terry is consumed with anger which colors every moment of her
life and the lives of everyone around her. Her daughters, in turn, are
trying to deal with this desertion and their mother's reaction to
it in their own ways with very different results many of which enrage
Terry even further.
One of Terry's actions, possibly to get back at her husband, is to
become involved with former major league baseball player turned radio
talk show host, Denny Davies, played by Kevin Costner, who is having his
own issues about moving on with his life. They meet when Denny comes to
talk to Tery about getting her permission to allow the group for which
he is the spokesperson to develop the woods behind her house in an upscale
neighborhood - a metaphor for the destruction of the life she has known.
The film is both funny and tender and maintains a fine balance between
the two. It also shows the balance between living your life according
to other's expectations of you and being true to your own self and
your desires.
Does this family manage to survive this major life-altering event and
its own self destructive behavior? The answer to that lies at the end
of the journey which is that THERE IS AN UPSIDE TO ANGER.
Yes this film proves that there is an upside to anger and if you take
the journey along with this film you will learn just exactly what that
is - an extremely valuable lesson.
The Upside Of Anger was Written and Directed by Mike Binder.
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