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The Upside of Anger
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Upside of Anger offers up a slice of heightened dysfunctional reality in the same sort of way American Beauty did. And like that particular picture, this one benefits from outstanding performances and an interesting, if a tad offbeat,
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The Upside Of Anger is one of those surprising movie gems that you can never quite see coming. A little like American Beauty (1999), though it isn’t not quite as caustic. Most scenes contain a gob-smackingly funny or dramatic moment, proving that there is some great screen writing talent lurking in American television. With American Beauty it was Grace Under Fire writer Alan Ball who later went back to TV to create the amazing HBO series Six Feet Under.
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At its center "The Upside of Anger" is a family dynamic. The interaction of the mother with the daughters as well as the attentive neighbor is the heart and soul of the film. It is a picture of their lives and where they are on their journeys. For some that may not be enough to be entertaining but for others it will suffice.
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The Upside of Anger is a "grown-ups" sort of comedy, and one that delivers strangely satisfying laughs while always putting character above all else. It's a strange and fairly captivating story about being angry, bitter, and resentful is, quite literally, a waste of life.
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The Upside of Anger [H]as that elegance we’ve come to associate with Desplat’s work. The warm sound of the small string ensemble adds an old-fashioned, European feeling to it. It’s not the most original score you’ll ever hear indeed, but it’s still truly pleasant and carefully crafted with underlying harmonic writing many would envy. The single downside of the score – which ... keeps it from full marks – is that the album avoids larger suites in favor of a more fragmentary layout with many cues averaging ninety seconds. Still, this is a score of rare depth and meaning; don’t let the lack of a physical CD turn you off this iTunes exclusive.
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The Upside of Anger ends with an ironic jolt that it's been hinting at all along (though it's more obvious in retrospect). A superficial resolution, practically speaking, it is handled with fictional carelessness. It has no impact beyond the “gotcha” of the mediocre writer, and the crystallization of the clan's hatefulness. Coming full circle, playing endings as beginnings, the film caps its arrogance with a final, supercilious voice-over, and drains the last ounce of good will from its tortured audience, now eager to leave the theater and drown themselves in obliterating drink.
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The Upside of Anger