Anger Management

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This article is about the film. For the therapy, see anger management. For the Hope & Faith episode, see Anger Management (Hope & Faith episode).
Anger Management

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Peter Segal
Produced by Adam Sandler (executive)
Allen Covert
Jack Giarraputo
Tim Herlihy
Written by David S Dorfman
Starring Adam Sandler
Jack Nicholson
Music by Teddy Castellucci
Cinematography Donald McAlpine
Editing by Jeff Gourson
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Revolution Studios
Happy Madison
Release date(s) April 11, 2003
Running time 106 min.
Country Flag of the United States
Language English
Budget $75 million
Gross revenue $195,745,823
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Anger Management is a 2003 comedy film from Columbia Pictures and Revolution Studios starring Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson, directed by Peter Segal and written by David S Dorfman.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The movie starts out in 1978, where a young Dave Buznik sits on a street corner, looking at the girl of his dreams jumping rope. She comes over and wants to play truth or dare. He picks dare, and she says to kiss her. Right as he's about to, the school bully Arnie Shankman pulls down his pants, embarrassing him in front of everybody. In the present day, a grown up Dave Buznik (Adam Sandler) is about to get on a plane for a business meeting. He works for a cat clothing catalog. His girlfriend Linda (Marisa Tomei) comes with him. Right as he's about to leave she asks for a kiss. He says that people are looking and he doesn't like it when people observe him showing signs of affection. He gives her a handshake and gets on the plane.

On the plane, a person is in his assigned seat. Dave is invited to sit beside a person who introduces himself as Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson). Buddy seems very annoying and laughs out loud at a movie. Not wanting Dave to miss out, he asks for Dave to get a headset. Dave asks for one, but the flight attendant dismisses starts talking nonstop to another flight attendant. Dave asks her again, and she demands that he lower his voice, although he is quite calm. Eventually, they get into a loud argument that ends up with him being tasered by the flight's air marshal.

The next scene is in a court with Dave on trial. It appears he will go to jail on an assault charge, until Buddy walks in and approaches the judge (Lynne Thigpen, in her last role). On friendly terms with her, he asks for Dave to be put in anger management instead of jail. She agrees, and Dave is sent to therapy.

When Dave arrives at his first therapy date, he sees Buddy standing on the balcony, conversing. Dave realizes that he will be conducting the session and greets him. He persuades him to sign his papers, but Buddy states that Dave must go through one session first. At the session, he meets a diverse group of characters with assorted mental issues. During the session, he loses his temper more than once, mainly due to Buddy's facetious attempts to get Dave to open up to the group. After the session, Buddy says that he wants to extend Dave's therapy because of the combative behavior he just showed. He begins by assigning him to an "Anger Buddy", Chuck (John Turturro), an excitable Grenada invasion veteran with a penchant for violence and profanity. That night, they go to a bar, where Chuck picks a fight with two men (one of whom is blind). The confrontation escalates into a huge brawl and Dave is viciously attacked by the blind man with his cane. Attempting to wrest it away, Dave accidentally strikes a waitress in the face.

Dave appears back in court and is required by the judge to complete the rehabilitation plan that Buddy prescribes, whatever it is. Buddy moves in with Dave and immediately starts laying down rules of conduct. He is required to accompany Dave to work, raising Dave's ire on the first day of this arrangement as he causes Dave's lateness (by forcing Dave to cook him breakfast). When they get there, Buddy insults Dave's contemptuous boss (Kurt Fuller) and smart-aleck rival (Allen Covert), embarrassing Dave further. Later, Dave answers a call saying that Buddy's mother is having non life-threatening surgery in Boston. Dave tells Buddy, who assumes the worst and begins sobbing. To make him feel better, Dave says the surgery isn't serious. Buddy says it was a good joke and that he's gonna get him back, revealing that Dave must go with him to Boston. Before they leave, Buddy finds his car has been blocked in its parking space. After shattering the offending car's windows and leaving his information, Buddy rams it off the high rise lot.

After checking on Buddy's mother, they stop at a bayside restaurant. Buddy asks Dave to go to the bar and pick up a beautiful woman (Heather Graham). He tries and fails miserably. Buddy asks him do to it with more confidence and a choice phrase of his own invention. This works. After a couple of drinks, Dave realizes that Buddy is gone and goes to the woman's home. There, the woman tries to seduce him, but he says he has a girlfriend and she kicks him out. He catches a ride to where Buddy's staying. Buddy says he told Linda all about the encounter at the bar. Dave cannot believe Buddy would betray his trust.

On the way back to New York they decide to be friends again. Buddy takes a detour to a Buddhist temple, where the former Arnie Shankman (John C. Reilly) is a monk. Buddy wants Dave to confront him, which appears impossible given Dave's reluctance and Arnie's peaceful manner. However, Buddy initiates a confrontation by relaying non-existent insults Dave has told him about Arnie and his family. Dave beats Arnie in a fight and escapes with Buddy, chased by a group of monks.

When they return, Dave talks to Linda, who wants to have a separate relationship for a while. They agree, with Dave learning that Buddy has started dating Linda. Dave attacks Buddy and is placed back in court. Buddy files a restraining order against him, but drops the charges. With his boss waiting for his latest assignment, Andrew being particularly annoying and with Buddy dating Linda, Dave goes on a rampage. He humiliates his boss and punches Andrew in the face, then tenders his resignation.

He learns that Buddy is taking Linda out to a New York Yankees game that night. Dave thinks that Buddy is going to propose marriage to Linda, since Dave had spoken about proposing in this manner himself. He races to the stadium, where he manages to get onto the field and grab a microphone from the singer preparing the United States National Anthem. He gets Linda to stand up and he runs up to her. He asks her to marry him and she says that before she makes her decision, he has to kiss her in front of everybody. He does (with some encouragement from Rudolph Guiliani) and as they're kissing the scoreboard displays a good luck wish to Dave and Linda from Buddy. Dave learns he has graduated from anger management and is confused. He finds Buddy, who says that everything that happened was a setup and all directed toward his therapy. It turns out Buddy is good friends with almost everyone Dave met. Linda enrolled Dave into therapy because she was worried about him and it started on the plane. The film ends as Dave officially graduates from anger management.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Cameos

[edit] Themselves

[edit] Critical reception

Anger Management received mixed reviews from Western critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 43% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 179 reviews.[1] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 52 out of 100, based on 38 reviews.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Anger Management Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
  2. ^ Anger Management (2003): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
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[edit] External links

Preceded by
Phone Booth		 Box office number-one films of 2003 (USA)
2003-04-13 - 2003-04-20		 Succeeded by
Identity
v • d • e
Films directed by Peter Segal

Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994) • Tommy Boy (1995) • My Fellow Americans (1996) • Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000) • Anger Management (2003) • 50 First Dates (2004) • The Longest Yard (2005) • Get Smart (2008)