The Upside of Anger contains some of the career highlights of many actors, including Joan Allen and Kevin Costner. Joan Allen plays a woman with four daughters whose husband has left her. Costner is Allen's next door neighbor who falls in love with her. the movie covers the relationship with them and the relationships of the four daughters,who are very well cast. The Upside of Anger is about learning to live again after changes in life. Director Mike Bender does a really good job of writing and directing this film. The film's only flaw is Bender's own character in the movie as Costner's producer on the radio. He comes across as someone who we can't entirely love or hate. He is supposed to be a sleazy guy because he dates younger women and dates one of Allen's daughters, but since the character seems sincere in his affections for her, I couldn't get myself to completely hate him. He dates younger women, so what? The attitude the other characters have toward this character actually upsets the balance of the movie, which is supposed to be about how anger is self destructive in the long term. Maybe the character was ill used or should have been cut from the film entirely. Otherwise, this movie is worth a rental and maybe better than some other films that have been out recently. 7/10
Review of The Upside of Anger
