The Upside of Anger

I think when The Upside of Anger was released theatrically I wanted little, if not nothing, to do with it. I have never been a "fan" of Kevin Costner, with the exception of his showing in Bull Durham, so I don't get particularly excited over his films. Generally they are about him: aging has-beens who mumble a lot and get by on their alleged charm. I think it was an ad campaign for the DVD release that prompted me to bump this one to the top of my Netflix list, because I realized there were four talented young actresses playing the four daughters (Erika Christensen, Evan Rachel Wood, Alicia Witt, and my beloved "Felicity" Keri Russell). When the movie ended and I started to watch the little "making of" featurette, I realized that the movie had been meant as a comedy...so that was why the drama was leaving me feeling a little incredulous. But it didn't make me laugh, that's for sure. Things felt kind of uneven in the film--not necessarily the performances, but perhaps the writing. The cinematography was so very bright and sunny, too, which didn't seem right. And with so many peripheral characters, we never get to know anyone very well. We see glimpses of people (particularly the daughters) but their stories aren't fleshed out, they aren't allowed to reveal things that would bring us to know them more--how old are they? If the mom wants them to go to college but most of them are out of high school, what do they do with themselves all day? What's the youngest one's name--seriously, is it Popeye, or is that a joke? Care to explain the joke? So the oldest one had a baby? Where's the baby? Can we see it? Is it a boy or a girl? What the...? I don't like feeling like that when I watch a movie. But I didn't hate it. I definitely would never have guessed the "twist" in the plot, and I was really into the movie at some points. But ulitmately, the "upside" for me was that when it was over I could put it in the mailbox and send it back, and know that I'll get something else in return.