THE UPSIDE OF ANGER

SYNOPSIS: Terry Wolfmeyer, a suburban wife and mother, has her life take 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 and regularly drowning her anger in alcohol, until she develops an offbeat relationship with her next-door neighbor, Denny. 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.

BOTTOM LINE: Allen is scorchingly brilliant in this role and deserved far more accolades than she received. On the surface, the part seems to be nothing but rage and emptiness, but Allen is too good an actress to wallow in such a shallow pool. Terry's alcohol abuse masks her true disbelief at her husband's supposed betrayal of the life they built together and the daughters he callously left behind. It's not hard to buy into her pain or her reaction to her situation. However, as good as she is, it's Costner's goofy earnestness that keeps the film afloat. Denny is an unapologetic open book who's just trying to find a happy future. The relationship they eventually develop is sweet, honest and heartfelt. The girls are fairly interchangable, but they each manage to make their own singular mark on the story. I was not very satisfied with how the film solves its' main mystery – what happened to Daddy? The answer renders all their pain worthless and unneccessary, forcing the ending into an unsatifactory conclusion. I guess that's life. That being said, UPSIDE is a multi-faceted, intense, poignant family drama that's not easy to forget.