In the 2005 motion picture The Upside of Anger, Kevin Costner plays a fictional, hard-drinking ex-Tigers star pitcher, Denny Davies, now a Detroit talk radio host. The movie was written and directed by Mike Binder, who also co-stars.

It's best to describe this movie as a dark "dramedy" —part comedy part drama, but indeed heavy in its subject matter.

IMDb says: "When her husband unexpectedly disappears, a sharp-witted suburban wife and her daughters juggle their mom's romantic dilemmas and family dynamics."

Max (essentially HBO) says this: "Terry Wolfmeyer has her life take an unusual turn when her husband disappears. Struggling with his absence, Terry finds herself at odds with her daughters and drowning her anger in alcohol until she develops an relationship with a neighbor."

Joan Allen plays Terry and her four daughters are all played by noted actresses—Alicia Witt, Keri Russell, Erika Christensen, and Evan Rachel Wood.

Ultimately, it turns out to be moving film, and getting stars like Costner and Allen to participate is also a testament to Binder's own resilience and perseverance within the Hollywood system.

In Tales from the Script, a 2010 collection of interviews from top Hollywood screenwriters, Binder recalls what it took to finally become established in Tinsel Town:

Success in this business distills down to a bone-marrow belief in yourself and what you’re doing. If you take rejection as a chance to strengthen the belief in yourself, it can actually be seen as a as a positive thing. Listen, I’ve always thought I was better than everyone else thought I was. At the same time, I’ve always thought I was worse. It’s the two evils, you know? Grandiosity and self-loathing go hand in hand.

I went through a long period where a lot of the guys I started with had gone on to become incredibly successful, and I’d say, “Maybe I just don’t have the talent they do, or the luck they do.” It was a matter of really listening to that voice in my head that said, “I’m on the right path, but the right people haven’t figured it out yet.”

Binder is talking about mental toughness.

For more on what I'm referring to, I wrote a short e-book last week called Mental Toughness – Mastering Resilience for Success.

If you read it, you probably won't automatically become a comedian, screenwriter, or director like Mike Binder, but we do provide a framework and some strategies to build your own mental toughness.

And it's a small investment. Currently less than four bucks:

As always,

Brian

P.S. – Watch The Upside of Anger on Amazon Prime:

Tales from the Script: 50 Hollywood Screenwriters Share Their Stories edited by Peter Hansen and Paul Robert Herman