On U List of Movie Reviews

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The Upside of Anger (2005)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 3/09

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3/09: I have a mixed bag of feelings about The Upside of Anger, but one thing is for sure: the movie is lame.

For a while, it was going okay, forcing me to lean toward a rating of '6' until the final ten minutes. The way the family reacted to the bizarre death of their father has soured my mood. Sometimes, there are moments that leave me feeling confused or just plain out of it. Such instances are the spontaneous moments of laughter, the irrelevant scenes, and the brief subplots involving the daughters.

The chemistry of the cast is good as it slowly develops over time, and thanks to Kevin Costner, The Upside of Anger is glued together very well. Although Joan Allen gives a good performance, it's still thin and superficial. She fails to convey the depth of her emotions, especially in the last ten minutes. Moreover, it gets boring when she acts like a bitch and then watches how everybody is reacting to her. It's probably Mike Binder's fault for his poor direction.

On the other hand, Kevin Costner is as fine as he can be, and he's dependable. Without him, it's hard to see Joan Allen surviving this one on her own. Mike Binder is another treat as he plays Shep the Sleaze and has a Scanners moment. However, the four seemingly perfect but robotic daughters are distracting and therefore drain away the energy; that's why they turned out to be unlikeable.

All in all, The Upside of Anger works well in certain areas but leaves me cheated in the long run.