Synopsis

After her husband disappears, Terry Wolfmeyer retreats into anger, alcohol, and sharp-tongued resentment while raising her four daughters in suburban Michigan. Her unlikely friendship with Denny Davies, a retired baseball player and radio host, gradually becomes romantic, even as each daughter faces major changes of her own. The family's uneasy new balance is challenged by revelations that force Terry to reconsider her past.

Factoids & Trivia

• Mike Binder wrote the role of Terry specifically for Joan Allen after working with her on The Contender. Binder later said that several major studios passed on the project, and that Kevin Costner's casting helped secure the film's financing.

• Although the story is set in Michigan, much of the production was filmed at Ealing Studios in London. Additional filming took place in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

• Denny Davies appears to draw inspiration from former Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain, who also became associated with radio broadcasting after his baseball career.

• The film uses images of Kevin Costner from For Love of the Game in Denny's radio studio. Costner played another Detroit Tigers pitcher in that 1999 baseball drama.

• The Upside of Anger premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2005, before receiving a limited U.S. theatrical release on March 11, 2005.

• Made for a reported $12 million, the film earned approximately $28.2 million worldwide. It later received acting recognition from the Chicago Film Critics Association and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle.