Anger Produces Awe not Animosity

I was starting to think good movies couldn’t be made in 2005.

I mean, I know the first part of any year is usually a slog but this has been ridiculous. How many bad horror movies, stupid romantic comedies, atrocious family films or putrid independent flicks can one year possibly handle? Lord knows this one’s already had its share, and with another ten full months still to go I’m starting to think the quota is going to be filled long before the half-way point.

Thankfully, this trend comes to a screeching halt with writer/director/actor Mike Binder’s (Indian Summer) latest melodrama The Upside of Anger. Easily the first great film of 2005, Binder has handcrafted one of the most sublime, funny and wrenchingly moving family sagas since James L. Brooks’ Terms of Endearment. Like a shot of adrenaline, it wakes up a moribund year at the Cineplex, putting the rest of the year’s offerings on notice as only a truly great film worthy of remembrance come end-of-season awards time can.

Joan Allen (The Notebook) stars as Terry Wolfmeyer, a suburban mother of four girls rocked to her core by the sudden abandonment of her husband. He’s left them, turning into a walking-talking mid-life crisis cliché, heading to Sweden to be with his sexy secretary. At least, that’s what Terry suspects. With no letter, no nothing left behind to answer all the ‘what’s’ and the ‘why’s’ she can’t really be sure. All she really knows for certain is that she and her daughters are on their on, and this is enough to make her very, very angry.

Former professional baseball player and current Detroit radio talk show host Denny Davies (Kevin Costner, Open Range) sees Terry as something of a kindred spirit. A boozer with a fondness for marijuana, he’s sleepwalking through his retirement, angry about all the missed opportunities and might-have-beens he’s let slip through his fingers. Now he’s content to just let things slide, tired of fighting for people, places or ideals, especially now when he hardly has the energy to even fight for himself. Over the next three years, Denny and Terry find their lives intermingling. And while the majority of that intermingling consists of sitting on a couch drinking far too much booze and watching far too much bad television, it’s still a connection, one that both of them desperately need.

As far as plots goes, there’s not too much to talk about here. It isn’t that The Upside of Anger is simple or devoid of surprise; quite the opposite; it’s that the movie instead looks and feels like the complex and blisteringly human real life it mirrors. The people here aren’t clichés; they don’t speak in platitudes or take the easy way out in order to remain likeable. They’re flawed, multifaceted, full of energy and life and prone to making mistakes or saying expressly the wrong thing at the very worst time. And, you know what? Those are exactly the traits that make us who we are and exactly the same thing that makes Binder’s movie beautifully priceless.

As parts go, Terry Wolfmeyer is one that fits the radiantly gifted Allen to the proverbial “T.” She’s so good I have trouble coming up with the words to elucidate. Long one of Hollywood’s most striking and talented character actresses, the former Oscar nominee should expect nothing less than the same honor with her work here. From first frame to last she galvanized my attention, shifting through an emotional minefield (most of it of her own making) with the precision and passion of a wayward sinner looking for a redemption she’s not entirely sure she deserves. It is a funny, witheringly honest portrayal full of all the humor and pathos most people experience daily deep within their own complicated lives.

Costner matches her. Quite frankly, this is his best performance, eerily building upon his iconic athlete portraits in Ron Shelton’s Bull Durham and Tin Cup. Never has the actor been this acidly funny or self-effacing, so willing to put his own image upon the chopping block for audiences to assiduously dissect. Costner, so easy to both hate and love (especially with wretchedly self indulgent films like The Postman and Dragonfly littering his resume), is at his best when refusing to play it safe and that’s exactly what he does here. Denny is a prime example of potential greatness squandered, both on the playing field and in life, deliverance only coming when his guard is let down in order to help the grieving and wounded Terry find some sort of solace.

The rest of the cast sparkles just as bright. Alicia Witt (Vanilla Sky), Keri Russell (We Were Soldiers), Erika Christensen (Traffic) and Evan Rachel Wood (Thirteen) all shine as Terry’s daughters, each bringing their own intimately personal characters to life seemingly with ease. In fact, all of them take a moment that, at least on a surface level, appears to scream of cliché only to turn said scene on its ear, shifting into something distinctly private and all to real. Best of the bunch is the amazingly talented Wood, but to single her out is almost a disservice to the consummate work put forth by the other three women. Even Binder gets in on the act, taking what appears to be a wretchedly oily slime ball only to deftly shift gears and make him into the piece’s only honest (at least to himself) character. He’s great, but so is nearly everything else so maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise.

There are some minor quibbles. Alexandre Desplat’s score is far too obvious and maudlin, while a final revelation – one I did not even remotely see coming – doesn’t pack the wallop I think Binder was aiming for. I also got a little tired of Russell’s storyline, and it’s only because both she and Allen share a harmoniously effortless chemistry that makes even the more mawkish aspects of this tangent surprisingly palatable. But really, these are small complaints, the rest of the movie so startling good I almost want to stand up and cheer.

Binder should pat himself on the back. Nothing in his history would ever have led me to believe he was capable of crafting a melodrama this wonderful, maybe even ranking with some of the best the genre offers. In many ways, The Upside of Anger reminds me of the works of Douglas Sirk (Written on the Wind), William Wyler (The Best Years of Our Lives) and the aforementioned James L. Brooks (Broadcast News), Binder carefully crafting a slice of Americana that’s refreshingly genuine. With almost a full ten months to go, this just might be one of the year’s best films and, at the very least, gets me excited to journey back into the multiplex.

Film Rating: êêê1/2  (out of 4)