The Upside of Anger

The Upside of Anger (Director: Mike Binder)

Writer/director Binder often appears in his own films; he is most known as a character actor, but has quite a few directorial projects on his resume--his best-known may be the Damon Wayans bomb Blankman, and I've seen a lot of The Sex Monster, the film about a guy who dreams about having a three-way with his wife but finds out his wife likes the girls more. No matter what, Binder is probably best-known for playing Leo Crow in Steven Spielberg's Minority Report.

This movie has gotten some early buzz, it's certainly carries more weight than any other film released this year, due to knockout performances from the reliable Joan Allen, and in a return to the kind of role that made him famous and Hollywood's top star in the early-90's, Kevin Costner.

The film begins with a funeral, and we're not sure who is being buried, but then we backtrack three years earlier. It's narrative revolves around Terry Wolfmeyer (Allen), who has just been left by her cheating husband, which leads her to alcohol abuse (the funny kind!), and the care of her four daughters, the tart Hadley (Alicia Witt), the ballerina Emily (Keri Russell), sexy Andy (Erika Christensen), and "just a child" Lavender (Evan Rachel Wood). Retired major leaguer Denny Davies (Costner) befriends Terry and they later become lovers. Meanwhile, Hadley is about to graduate from college and announce a shotgun wedding, Emily has health problems, Andy hooks up with a man that Terry sees as her cheating husband, "Shep" (Binder), and Lavender is going through the growing pains of high school.

But the movie is not about Denny and Terry, or even Terry's relationship with her daughters--although the movie covers those things in different episodes. There's not a plot thread that makes one thing depend on another. The movie is about Terry's coping with loss, and how this affects her ability to interact with people. In fact, it's surprising the movie isn't titled, "Terry," considering that's the usual textbook way to describe a character piece. Joan Allen is perfect for this, in what should be one of the most memorable performances even by the end of the year. Her reactions and line-readings are extraordinary. Meanwhile, Costner plays his best archetypal schtick as the happy-go-lucky (former, washed-up, etc.) baseball player. It serves him and the film well.

Meanwhile, amongst the daughters, Alicia Witt has the best lines, Keri Russell has the most dramatic weight, Erika Christensen has the most sex appeal, and Evan Rachel Wood is the most diverse. Most of the film is through Lavender's (or "Popeye" as they call her) eyes, and she is the commentator and wisdom-spouter, with the irony being she's the only "child" in the picture.

The film, overall, loses a little in its episodic nature. There are great scenes of drama and comedy, but since nothing follows from point A to point B or some variation of that, then the plot structure is a little shaky. Just for example, when Terry walks in on Andy and Shep, who have just slept with each other--there's no talk about the consequences of sex or mentioning it--it leads to a funny scene at breakfast, and later a confrontation where Terry speaks to Shep in the way she probably wants to speak to her husband--but it merely serves as a function of Terry's character and little else, which is fine, most character studies do this, but this is not a character in a situation that relies on her to act in order to get to a goal of some sort. That's where the movie can leave you a little cold.

But, the movie is worth watching, and it's certainly one of the best of the year thus far.