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‘PEOPLE SAY, “A COMEDY? ARE YOU KIDDING?!”

Joan Allen tells Miles Fielder why she’s pleased to be taking a break from the role of the strong, stoical woman with her new comedy The Upside of Anger

oan Allen is by far one of America‘s most

respected actresses. Brian Cox. who appears

alongside her in the forthcoming espionage thriller The Bourne Ultimatum. says she's the best he‘s ever worked with.

The three ()scar nominations she received for heavyweight dramas Nixon. The Crueihle and The Contender support his claim. And respect for her craft is probably why Allen. who came to cinema via

Chicago's equally well-respected Steppenwolf

Theatre Company. has been cast over and over as the moral centre of her movies.

All of which makes Allen‘s new film. The Upside of

Anger. something of a departure. In it the actress plays Terry Ann Wolfmeyer. a suburban wife and mother of three who turns to the bottle after her husband leaves her and whose subsequent behaviour around her grown-up daughters veers between adolescent and infantile. It's a blackly comic drama about domestic dysfunction that pulls no punches. ‘lt's true.‘ says Allen. 'and it’s one of the reasons I loved playing Terry. She's the matriarch. but she's not really making self-sacrificing choices for her family..

Allen says the pattern started when she was cast as Pat Nixon. ‘I did Nixon. The lee Storm and then The Crucible. and certainly in The Crueihle l was playing the moral centre. It became a typecasting trend: “get Joan Allen if you want strong. silent. doing the right thing". Filmmaking is an expensive business and people want to be sure their films are going to work. so you do see actors cast to play their greatest strengths

’But in the last three or four years I’ve been given

more of an opportunity to play a broader range of

36 THE LIST 26 Apr—~10 May 2007

characters. and The Upside o/‘Anger is a great example of that.‘

The Upside of/inger is a departure for Allen in another way: it's a comedy. While some of Allen‘s films are humorous l’leusuntville‘s subversive irony. Hire/Offs B-movie mania none of them are comedies as such. It's why she asked Mike Binder. writer-director of The Upside ofAnger and her co-star in The Contender. to write a part for her. ‘I found out that Mike was also a writer-director of comedies.‘ Allen says. ‘I told him that I wanted to do some comedy. I wasn‘t expecting him to take my request so wholeheartedly.‘

Allen says it was tricky getting the comic tone of

the film just right. while keeping it dramatically real and poignant. Due credit to her and Binder for doing

just that with The Upside o/‘Anger. ‘lt‘s been very

interesting to hear the different reactions from people that have seen it.‘ she says. ‘l‘ve spoken to some people who have said. “A comedy'.’ ()h. of course". Others have said. “Are you kidding?!" So the film definitely has a unique comic style to it.‘

Having completed the third Bourne film. Allen is currently stepping behind to the camera to co—produce a feature about the American modernist artist Georgia ()‘Keefe (who Allen will play if and when the financing for the film is raised). ‘That‘s something l‘ve never done before.‘ Allen says. ‘I enjoy a new challenge. And that‘s why. acting-wise. I am more interested in doing comedies now rather than playing yet another moral centre.’

The Upside of Anger is on selected release from Fri 4 May.

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THE BEST FILM & DVD RELEASES

* This is England Shane Meadows’ new film about love, loss, hate and skinheads at the time of the Falklands War is a little gem. See review, page 39. Selected release from Fri 27 Apr.

=i= The Upside of Anger Joan Allen excels in her first bona fide comedy role in this tale of domestic dysfunction. See interview, left. Selected release from Fri 4 May.

=14 The Painted Veil Masterful adaptation of Somerset Maughan’s claustrophobic romancier starring Edward Norton and Naomi Watts. See review, page 39. General release from Fri 27 Apr.

* Spider-Man 3 Sam Raimi’s

- webbed trilogy bows out with a

sinister final instalment. See review, page 37. General release from Fri 4 May.

=i= Away From Her Beautifully low key Canadian indie about a solid marriage wrecked by the onset of Alzheimer’s. The stellar veteran cast includes Julie Christie and Olympia Dukakis. See interview, page 38 and review, page 37. Fi/mhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 27 Apr:

* The Lives of Others Exceptionally fine German thriller set in Stasi-run East Germany. Selected release.

=i= Curse of the Golden Flower Zhang Hero Yimou's latest epic. GFT, Glasgow and selected cinemas.

* The Family Friend Paolo The Consequences of Love Sorrentino’s intriguing and repellent character study gets a second wind on the East coast. Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 4 May.

=l= The Calman Nanni Moretti’s entertaining satire of Berlusconi’s Italy. GFT Glasgow, Tue 1—Thu 3 May.

=i= The Holy Mountain Alexandro Jodorowsky's mind blowing, rarely seen 1973 film (after cult hit El Topo) finally reaches Scottish screens after a 34 year legal impasse. Miss it at your peril. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Fri 4 May; GF7I Glasgow, Tue 8 & Wed 9 May.