Denny and Terry become drinking buddies, and, as Owen Gleiberman writes in Entertainment Weekly, "dissolute soul mates," leading Denny to spend more and more of his time at her house (Gleiberman pp). What brought these two characters together was a mutual desire to escape, Denny, his once famed career, and Terry, the apparent fantasy of her marriage (Upside pp). Binder does an excellent job of developing each of the characters, especially Allen and Costner. Denny is forced to accept the fact that he loves being a part of Terry's family, regardless of the fighting and tension, and Terry is forced to accept that it was not her marriage that was the fantasy, but the circumstances of her husband's disappearance. Binder shows the growth and maturity of the girls during this three-year interval, how each one takes a stand against...

Binder also shows how Terry misdirects the anger for her husband towards her daughters, sometimes unconsciously, and at other times, fully aware that she is hurting them.
Binder set the movie in a woodsy upper class neighborhood in suburban Detroit, and provides a chronology of time but showing the seasons pass, year after year. The movie is cast superbly, especially Costner's role, and excellently portrays the cloud of dysfunction that can appear over any happy home. The world is not always what it seems, but then again, it is.

Works Cited

Gleiberman, Owen. "The Upside Of Anger: As a romantic ex-jock, Costner revels in aging gracefully." Entertainment Weekly. March 18, 2005. Retrieved September 25, 2005 from HighBeam Research Library Web site.

Moore, Roger. "The Upside of Anger." The Orlando Sentinel via Knight-

Ridder/Tribune News Service. March 15, 2005. Retrieved September 25, 2005 from HighBeam Research Library Web site.

The Upside of Anger. Director: Mike Binder. New Line Home Entertainment.