The Upside of Anger 2005

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Allen, who is without doubt one of the best actors of her era, gets to go places she has never before gone, while Costner gets to remind us exactly what it was we were drawn to in Bull Durham. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Despite Denny's sturdy support, The Upside of Anger belongs to Terry. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Allen and Costner get to flirt and fool around and distract us from the rest of the movie. They're doing it a favor. Read more

Mary Brennan, Seattle Times: Though this is not the type of serious film likely to win many awards, Allen gives one of her best performances. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: The characters are actually believable, and the messes they get into approximate real life. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: Costner's funny and sincere in a role that winks at his many previous baseball movies. And Joan Allen brings home the kind of performance that wins awards. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: A smart, funny, yet, at the same time, unrelenting look at what happens when a midlife slump collides with a midlife crisis. Read more

Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic: It feels like a bloated Lifetime TV movie. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Binder is too facile an observer to get anywhere near the complexities of a house full of women -- instead, Terry is a prickly goddess, and the daughters are an assortment of muses. Read more

Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times: A squarely suburban movie with a distinctly bourgeois-shaped window on the world, but it's genuine and exceptionally well observed. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Allen gets to the heart of the movie's humor without ever winking. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Costner and Allen show you what it means not just to play a role but to inhabit it. Read more

Jonathan F. Richards, Film.com: Binder wrote this movie for Joan Allen, and it is her flinty performance that gives the undertaking what claim it has to success. Read more

Dallas Morning News: Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: The film is carried by Costner and Allen, who project a chemistry so incrementally built on reluctant camaraderie, they almost seem like siblings. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: The movies haven't rewarded Allen's formidable talent with a star turn that cuts her loose and unfurls her resources. Until now. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: Throughout her career, Allen has often been the best thing in lesser pictures. How refreshing to see a movie rise to her capabilities. Read more

David Edelstein, NPR's Fresh Air: The Upside of Anger is the upside of Allen. Read more

Jami Bernard, New York Daily News: A wonderful, sophisticated romantic comedy about the resilience of love in the face of competing emotions. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: The upside of Mike Binder's deeply flawed attempt to marry midlife romantic comedy with domestic farce is two nearly perfect performances by Joan Allen and Kevin Costner. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: An emotional reality check that is profound, laugh-out-loud funny, articulate and shattering. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Perfectly adult, perfectly acted and perfectly adorable, it surprises and charms for most of those 90 minutes. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Offers a lot of smart dialogue and six nicely developed characters. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: I liked these characters precisely because they were not designed to be likable -- or, more precisely, because they were likable in spite of being exasperating, unorganized, self-destructive and impervious to good advice. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The film is full of emotional truth, and it gives Allen, at long last, the star vehicle she so richly deserves. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Meant to explore anger, all this picture does is manufacture it. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: Standard-issue. Read more

Trevor Johnston, Time Out: L, yet the movie's There's spiky humour and ample breathing room for the material, yet the movie's rather too intent on parading its own wisdom. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Allen is one of the most reliable American actresses, and her intelligence and wit raise the quality of a movie that often feels as if it belongs on the Lifetime cable network. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: Mike Binder's femme-dominated domestic drama hooks the viewer immediately, and is flecked with enough bitterly comic touches to make this an easy-to-digest variation of an angst-ridden tale. Read more

Jessica Winter, Village Voice: The film has exhausted itself with fits of glib hysteria long before its truly stupefying final twist, a stunning betrayal of audience trust. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: What's best about Upside is its gonzo-sitcom craziness, a situation that lends itself to enjoyable performances. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: It feels like a retread of several better movies, with a nastier, more bitter edge. Read more