Continuing my plan to watch ever Kevin Costner movie in order I come to The Upside Of Anger from 2005Plot In A Paragraph: Terry Wolfmeyer (Joan Allen) a suburban wife, is left to raise her four headstrong daughters when her husband unexpectedly leaves (presumably to Sweden with his secretary) without a trace. Things get even more hectic when she falls for her neighbour Denny (a scene stealing KC) a once-great baseball star turned radio d.j. This leaves her daughters out on a limb. The Upside Of Anger is a funny film for me. It's filled with brilliant performances, is well written, and well directed. But for some reason I never watch it. This is one of my least viewed KC movies, despite it featuring a great performance from him. All the cast are brilliant, Joan Allen always is, Erika Christensen (i expected to see more of her, but I never have) Kerr Russell, Alicia Witt and Evan Rachel Wood all play the daughters really well.But as the lonely alcoholic drinking buddies Terry and Denny Allen and KC own this movie, I think in the hands of two lesser actors this wouldn't have worked anywhere near as well. KC simply steals every scene he is in and I believe he deserved on Oscar nomination. In fact Joan Allen should have been nominated too. I remember a lot of reviews focused on how great KC was in it, and suggested this would be a contender around Oscar time, and when KC and Joan Allen were both nominated for Critics Choice awards, I thought it might have a chance, but it didn't earn a single nomination, and it didn't actually turn up in the UK until 2007. By which point I had already seen his next two movies and was awaiting Mr Brooks. When it was released over here unexpectedly with no promotion. If I didn't see a critics review in The Sun newspaper, I never would have known it was released. For a movie of this quality I think that's a disgrace.

Terry Wolfmeyer (Joan Allen) was a nice suburban housewife until her husband disappeared with his Swedish secretary. She's an angry depressed mess with her 4 daughters (Erika Christensen, Keri Russell, Alicia Witt, Evan Rachel Wood). Then her neighbor Denny Davies (Kevin Costner) becomes her drinking buddy.There are great actresses at work here. Joan Allen has all the skills to bring the anger, the frustration, and the likability for us to still root for her. There are some moments of levity, and a couple of good jokes. There is even a great moment between her and Shep (Mike Binder). Mike Binder does a good job as writer/director. However, he could add a few more jokes to liven up the movie.

The Upside of Anger is a wonderful film about the struggles of anger. It's dark comedic touch grabs you from the start without releasing you until the credits roll. The script is funny, charming, well-written dialogue; just absolutely lovely. The direction is dead-on. The director makes you feel like you want to be in this environment that, let's face it isn't the most optimistic. The highlight here is the lead performance from Joan Allen. She's magical here.How the Academy can sleep at night knowing they didn't nominate her is just beyond comprehension. Kevin Costner gives his best performance to date here, as well. The entire ensemble works with one-another, and it shows.This is a smaller film, so many people haven't heard of it, but I beg you to see it; 10.

This is one of those films that I watched because I have an anger problem myself. Worse than that 9/10 it is justified or even directed correctly. This is such a film that explores the relationship we all have w/anger. Like another comment said, "The Joan Allen show," that is totally correct. Kevin Costner is good here too, but only as a supporting role, which is a good thing at this point in his career. Please watch this film so that we shouldn't judge before we know all the facts. Many of us judge or get angry too easily because we don't know the whole story, I'm one of those people. Here's hoping this might change some people from getting too upset too easily.