Milkduds

The Upside of Anger (9/10)

March 31st, 2005

I’m finally starting to catch up my reviews! Only this one and another and I’ll be caught up.

I saw The Upside of Anger a couple weeks ago, but it left a pretty good impression on me. All I have to say is this: Joan Allen WILL get nominated for an Academy Award, if not win, for Best Actress. While I doubt it, Kevin Costner might get an Oscar nod for his great performance as well. Anyway, about the movie: Upside is about a man leaving his wife, Terry (Allen), and their four teenage daughters. While Terry vents and watches her life fall apart, her neighbor and former baseball star, Denny (Costner), attempts to court her.

Although this movie is classified as a drama (and rightly so because it deals with some serious issues), I found myself laughing harder than I have in a while at a movie. Allen’s reactions to the string of traumatic events that take place in her life are hysterical! Allen and Costner’s chemistry on the screen is really believable as well. The screenplay was not too predictable and the script was very realistic. The four teenage daughters, played by Erik Christensen, Even Rachel Wood, Keri Russell, and Alicia Witt all turned out great performances. I just hope Wood starts to take on some different move roles besides the dark, broody teenager. There really weren’t that many downsides to Upside. The acting performances were terrific, but while I don’t think the overall movie was Oscar-caliber, it’s close.

Entry Filed under: Movies