This page was created on March 9, 2005
This page was last updated on March 23, 2005

—Overview
—Photos
—About this Film pdf
—Spiritual Connections

Review continued on Darrel's blog

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Directed by Mike Binder
Screenplay by Mike Binder

Cast (in credits order)
Joan Allen .... Terry Wolfmeyer
Kevin Costner .... Denny Davies
Erika Christensen .... Andy Wolfmeyer
Evan Rachel Wood .... Lavender "Popeye" Wolfmeyer
Keri Russell .... Emily Wolfmeyer
Alicia Witt .... Hadley Wolfmeyer
Mike Binder .... Adam "Shep" Goodman
Tom Harper .... David Junior
Dane Christensen .... Gorden Reiner
Danny Webb .... Grey Wolfmeyer
Magdalena Manville .... Darlene
Suzanne Bertish .... Gina
David Firth .... David Senior
Rod Woodruff .... Dean Reiner
Stephen Greif .... Emily's Doctor
Arthur Penhallow .... DJ Arthur P
Richard Mylan .... Disc Jockey
Robert Perkins .... Town Car Man
William Tapley .... Dr. Lewis
Owen Oakeshott .... Builder Foreman
Bella Sabbagh .... Radio Station Receptionist

Produced by
Jack Binder .... producer
Chris Curling .... associate producer
Mark Damon .... executive producer
Alex Gartner .... producer
Andreas Grosch .... executive producer
Stewart Hall .... executive producer
Peter Heslop .... line producer
Sammy Lee .... producer
Andreas Schmid .... executive producer

Original Music by Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography by Richard Greatrex
Film Editing by
Steve Edwards
Robin Sales

MPAA: Rated R for language, sexual situations, brief comic violence and some drug use.
Runtime: USA:118 min
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM, and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG

Academy Award nominee Joan Allen, Academy Award winner Kevin Costner, Erika Christensen, Evan Rachel Wood, Keri Russell and Alicia Witt headline a stellar ensemble cast in the comedic drama The Upside of Anger.

Allen stars as the sharp-witted Terry Wolfmeyer, a suburban wife and mother whose life takes an unusual turn when her husband unexpectedly disappears. Struggling to deal with his sudden absence, Terry finds herself increasingly at odds with her four headstrong daughters (Christensen, Wood, Russell and Witt) and regularly drowning her anger in alcohol, until she develops an offbeat relationship with her next-door neighbor, Denny (Costner). A once-great baseball star turned radio DJ, Denny becomes a drinking buddy for Terry and slowly evolves into her source of strength, as well as an ad-hoc father to her daughters. But things get complicated as Terry’s daughters grow accustomed to having Denny around while attempting to juggle not only their mother’s romantic dilemmas, but their own.

At turns funny, poignant and bittersweet, The Upside of Anger is written and directed by Mike Binder (creator and star of the HBO series “The Mind of the Married Man”), who also appears in a co-starring role as Shep, Denny’s radio show producer. The film is produced by Alex Gartner, Jack Binder and Sammy Lee and is a co-production between MDP Filmproduktion GmbH, Film & Entertainment VIP Medienfonds 2 GmbH & Co., KG and Film & Entertainment VIP Medienfonds 3 GmbH & Co., KG. Stewart Hall, Andreas Grosch and Andreas Schmid are the executive producers.

New Line Cinema will release The Upside of Anger (rated “R” by the M.P.A.A. for “language, sexual situations, brief comic violence and some drug use”) in theaters nationwide on March 11, 2005. The film will have its world premiere at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

For centuries Anger has been included in the Seven Deadly Sins (Pride, Envy, Anger, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, Lust.) This list may not seem all that bad, after all they aren’t acts, they are attitudes. But that is what makes this list so “deadly” – they are attitudes that can control our lives and eat away at us. This corrosiveness is the center of The Upside of Anger.

The film begins as Terry has discovered that her husband has gone. It is obvious to her that he has run off to Sweden with his assistant at work. That begins the anger that builds throughout the film. Through an alcoholic haze she lashes out at her four daughters and anyone else who gets within range.

Her neighbor, Denny, a former baseball player now radio personality, comes within range, but seems somewhat exempt from the barrage of anger because he drinks with her and she sees him as inherently inferior. Soon he’s a regular part of the household, serving as a bit of surrogate father for the daughters.

Review continued on Darrel's blog

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