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Upside of Anger, TheThe Upside Of Anger opens with a narration from the youngest of three daughters, Popeye (Wood), who observes that her previously pleasant mother Terry (Allen) became perpetually angry after the disappearance of her husband, assumed to have run off with his secretary. The implicit message in the title is that there is a silver lining to the dark cloud: the anger forces confrontation, hence enhancing communication and helping relationships develop.
Despite the fact that events in the film theoretically support this - Terry is drawn closer to neighbour Denny (Costner), and she eventually becomes more open with her daughters - the delivery of the message lacks conviction. There's little import in what are intended to be significant scenes, the tone remaining too light and the pace too brisk to allow for any real reflection or probing.
The upside of this is that the film is often funny. Costner is amusing as drunken ex-baseball star Denny, whose clumsy courtship of Terry forms the basis of the comical narrative. On the sidelines, his lecherous friend Shep (director Binder) provides more uncomfortable laughter as he makes arguably inappropriate advances towards younger women.
Terry's spiteful outbursts bring more dark humour, as does the sarcastic banter of her trio of girls. Popeye's narration is the exception, book-ending the film with po-faced words of wisdom that clash with the aforementioned breezy tone. "People don't know how to love," she intones, "So they avoid it and seek solace in angst, fear and aggression." The fact that the audience has to be spoon-fed this conclusion feels like an admission of the film's failings.
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