The Upside of Anger

March. 11,2005      R
Rating:
6.8
Trailer Synopsis Cast

After her husband runs off with his secretary, Terry Wolfmeyer is left to fend for herself -- and her four daughters. As she hits rock bottom, Terry finds a friend and drinking buddy in next-door neighbor Denny, a former baseball player. As the two grow closer, and her daughters increasingly rely on Denny, Terry starts to have reservations about where their relationship is headed.

Joan Allen as  Terry Wolfmeyer
Kevin Costner as  Denny Davies
Erika Christensen as  Andy Wolfmeyer
Keri Russell as  Emily Wolfmeyer
Alicia Witt as  Hadley Wolfmeyer
Evan Rachel Wood as  Popeye Wolfmeyer
Mike Binder as  Adam 'Shep' Goodman
Dane Christensen as  Gordon Reiner
Danny Webb as  Grey Wolfmeyer
Magdalena Manville as  Darlene

Similar titles

Funny Games
Funny Games
When Ann, husband George, and son Georgie arrive at their holiday home they are visited by a pair of polite and seemingly pleasant young men. Armed with deceptively sweet smiles and some golf clubs, they proceed to terrorize and torture the tight-knit clan, giving them until the next day to survive.
Funny Games 2008
Animal House
Paramount+
Animal House
At a 1962 College, Dean Vernon Wormer is determined to expel the entire Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, but those troublemakers have other plans for him.
Animal House 1978
Far North
Freevee
Far North
In the arctic, as Saiva is being born, a shaman declares that she is evil and will bring harm to all who become involved with her. Saiva is cast out of her tribe of herders and grows up to live a nomadic existence with Anja, a young woman she adopts as an infant. Then Loki, an injured and starving soldier, stumbles into their isolated lives. The women nurse him back to health, but treachery, violence and doom await them all.
Far North 2008
Orgazmo
Starz
Orgazmo
A devout Mormon living in L.A. becomes a pornographic actor after his martial arts moves impress a big-time director.
Orgazmo 1998
Fool's Gold
Max
Fool's Gold
Treasure hunter Ben "Finn" Finnegan has sunk his marriage to Tess and his trusty boat in his obsessive quest to find the legendary Queen's Dowry. When he finds a vital clue that may finally pinpoint the treasure's whereabouts, he drags Tess and her boss, billionaire Nigel Honeycutt, along on the hunt. But Finn is not the only one interested in the gold; his former mentor-turned-enemy Moe Fitch, hired by rapper-turned-gangster Bigg Bunny, will stop at nothing to beat him to it.
Fool's Gold 2008
Angel of Mine
Max
Angel of Mine
A woman grieving over the death of her daughter loses grip of reality when she begins to think her girl may still be alive.
Angel of Mine 2019
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Paramount+
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1958
The Shawshank Redemption
Prime Video
The Shawshank Redemption
Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
The Shawshank Redemption 1994
Barton Fink
Fubo TV
Barton Fink
A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
Barton Fink 1991
Rio Bravo
Max
Rio Bravo
The sheriff of a small town in southwest Texas must keep custody of a murderer whose brother, a powerful rancher, is trying to help him escape. After a friend is killed trying to muster support for him, he and his deputies must find a way to hold out against the rancher's hired guns until the marshal arrives. In the meantime, matters are complicated by the presence of a young gunslinger - and a mysterious beauty who just came in on the last stagecoach.
Rio Bravo 1959

You May Also Like

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Netflix
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
World-famous detective Benoit Blanc heads to Greece to peel back the layers of a mystery surrounding a tech billionaire and his eclectic crew of friends.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery 2022
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Prime Video
Everything Everywhere All at Once
An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save what's important to her by connecting with the lives she could have led in other universes.
Everything Everywhere All at Once 2022
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for adventure has taken its toll: He has burned through eight of his nine lives, leaving him with only one life left. Puss sets out on an epic journey to find the mythical Last Wish and restore his nine lives.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish 2022

Reviews

Ehirerapp
2005/03/11

Waste of time

... more
Exoticalot
2005/03/12

People are voting emotionally.

... more
Odelecol
2005/03/13

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

... more
WillSushyMedia
2005/03/14

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

... more
dierregi
2005/03/15

Terry Wolfmeyer gets angry and depressed when husband Grey runs away with his secretary and leaves her with their four daughters. She starts drinking heavily and spending time with alcoholic neighbor Denny, an ex-baseball star with lots of money and not much to do.The four daughters Grumpy, Dancer, Slutty and Stoned accept the news of their father disappearance with nonchalance.Among the movie's many problems: we never see the "lovable and sweet" Terry - as described by daughter Stoned - before Grey's disappearance. We just see her as an angry, unpleasant bitch and as such it is difficult to root for her.In three years, neither Terry nor her daughters ever try to get in touch with Grey. I understand being angry, but some financial/administrative problems must have required Grey to be informed or consulted. If Terry did not want to talk to him – which proves how incredibly immature she is– one of the daughters could have tried. Terry is showed to be a housewife and Grey's supposed to be going bust. Where did they get the money to finance their lavish lifestyle?Not a word is being said about Grey's disappearing with only his wallet and not a single suitcase or any spare clothes. Under normal circumstances, if a member of your family would vanish from one day to the other - after jumping to whatever conclusion - one would probably start to get worried about total lack of contact, but not in this family. Maybe hire a PI? Not the Wolfmeyer....The thin main plot is padded by secondary plots about each of the daughters: Grumpy gets married and pregnant (not in this order), Dancer is sick, Slutty sleeps with her older boss and Stoned gets stoned with a gay guy. Being so busy with their social activities they never exchange ideas about what might have happened to dad.The story wraps up a bit like the virgin suicides in reverse, which proves that bad girls have more fun and good girls top themselves.

... more
Joey Costanza
2005/03/16

*** out of **** starsI must admit, that when I first saw the trailer for The Upside of Anger, it came across to me as perhaps boring, perhaps shallow, perhaps cliché. It's nothing of the sort. What we have here is a melding of flavors; something of a Woody Allen/Coen brothers hybrid coasting along the seasons of Michigan. Humor is not without despondency. Dialouge is not without wit. The silent contemplation of the characters is not without the disturbing yet comforting contemplation by us as viewers. It's always a surprising pleasure, no matter how much I experience it, to witness silent acting that reads between the lines, and tells a story without superfluous jargon. You gotta know when to talk, but you gotta know when to shut up too.Terry Wolfmeyer (Joan Allen) is a mother of four high school and college age daughters, and her husband has surprisingly run off with his secretary to a land far, far away. As we learn more about Terry, we can see why. She's continuously boozy yet functioning, sadly and hysterically cynical, systematically bitter, unknowingly shallow and insultingly forward. Her daughters are all headstrong and smart, trying to find their way in the world. Terry has her own idea of how they should live their lives and plan their futures, not recognizing their inherent talents and strengths, or not choosing to. Denny (Kevin Costner), a friend of the disappeared hubby, shows up on Terry's lawn with a beer in his hand, wanting a drinking buddy. We instantaneously sense a relationship will ensue, but it doesn't happen without the difficulty and maturity that can only take place between two adults in their 40's or 50's who have been through the ringer a time or two. All the daughters approve of him, which is probably why Terry is so slow to come around to his quirky advances. Denny is an ex-Detroit Tiger hero who hates talking about his once beloved sport as a radio DJ. Will Costner ever shake that America's favorite pastime vibe? He doesn't need to here. It works out just fine. Yet what has made him so reluctant and irritated about chatting up RBIs and home-runs is an underdeveloped part of the narrative. The film really belongs to Allen.What gives Upside so much light and life are the daughters, played by Erika Christensen, Evan Rachel Wood, Keri Russell and Alicia Witt. All of them obviously and equally understood what screenwriter and director Mike Binder intended for them to bring to the screen, which puts much light on him for either not allowing himself to compromise his vision, or for selecting the correct choices of talent, or both. Binder also co-stars as an unashamed, disgusting Lothario, and a producer at Denny's radio station.I believe The Upside of Anger will appeal to all ages (kids aside of course) and all breeds of movie watchers. Ladies may enjoy it as a "chick flick". Indie enthusiasts may like it's originality and dark charm. Middle aged men may identify with Denny's apathy for a sport he once loved and the attraction he has for Terry's melodramatic family. In short, I think this movie can interest and entertain everyone. And what a complement that is! If I do say so myself.

... more
Isaac5855
2005/03/17

There are only a handful of actresses out there right now who can completely command a screen to the point that I will see anything they do and three-time Oscar nominee Joan Allen is definitely one of them and it is her dazzling performance which is the main selling point of THE UPSIDE OF ANGER,an intelligent and offbeat comedy-drama which stars Allen as Terry Wolfmeyer, a highly strung but domineering wife and mother who goes into an emotional meltdown when she believes her husband has run off with his secretary. She lashes out at everyone, with her four daughters taking the brunt of her abuse, while tentatively broaching a relationship with a retired baseball player (Kevin Costner). Allen turns in a gutsy and mesmerizing performance that should have earned her an Oscar nomination and her chemistry with Costner is surprisingly smooth. Alicia Witt, Erika Christiansen, Kerry Russell,and Evan Rachel Wood play Terry's daughters, who all have their own issues with Mom. Director and screenwriter Mike Binder has not only fashioned a moving and human story with flawed and vivid characters but written a juicy role for himself as Christiansen's boss, who she falls for, much to Mom's chagrin. It's easy to get caught up in the emotional story, but it is the blockbuster star turn by the fabulous Joan Allen that makes this one a keeper.

... more
zebra782
2005/03/18

I am telling you; really what is it you want? Do you want drama? It is there, you can't find better actors than Kevin Costner and Joan Allen. Do you want fun? It is also there, this is the funniest performance by Costner since "Tin Cup", and Joan Allen also is quite a comedian. Do you want sadness? It is every where, with the sickness of the daughter, and the death of the father. Do you want love? The chemistry between Kevin Costner and Joan Allen was unbelievable.And better yet when Terry thought that her husband is cheating on her for three years with a Swedish secretary, he was dead for since the moment he disappeared; I mean what the hell is this? This is a fantastic comedy.Every one of the girls has an issue and here comes a brilliant writer/director Mike Binder who knew how to get the best out of the lovely Joan Allen, she was simply magnetic.This is a fantastic screenplay, and the funniest film I have seen this year.

... more