Smashed Review

• 9th Dec 2012

Mary Elizabeth Winstead shifts from Hollywood kitsch to indie drama in this story of a young married teacher who comes to the realisation that the bottle is getting the better of her.

Often tales of alcoholics are viewed through the eyes of experienced adults, or trailer trash culture. Here it’s a couple who are living well enough to abuse their situation. She takes for granted her work, husband and others around her.

The portrayal isn’t tidied up either as right away we discover as Kate (Winstead) wakes hung over one morning that she has even wet the bed next to her husband Charlie (Aaron Paul). Things get worse as she heads off to teach her class of young children, only to find herself throwing up in front of them (which itself leads to her having to live a lie in order to keep her job and others happy around her). But help is on hand as she is shown the way to recovery by a colleague who understands the problem.

The film does threaten in places to let melodrama get the better of her. Even as Kate tries to get herself on a program and try to live life as honestly as she can with others it has its drawbacks. The threat there is that the drama will let the character slip – but even when that happens, it’s surprising that the film doesn’t wallow in such moments to domineer; choosing instead to cut through time to see what the action taken was instead.

The film is light in areas (and often laugh out loud hilarious), but never forgets it is dealing with real life issues. Winstead puts in one of her best performances to date in her career thus far which holds promise for perhaps roles she elects to take on in the future. The downside for this film’s theatrical release in the UK is perhaps this isn’t quite what mainstream audiences will want to see this time of year, but should go down well with more indie purists.

Steven Hurst