Mary Elizabeth Winstead

DVD of the Week: Smashed

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In this indie drama, a couple navigates life while drunk.  Can they stay together and flourish when she sobers up?  Smashed is a remarkably realistic portrayal of the drinking life and the challenges of recovery and relapse, informed by the personal experience of co-writer Susan Burke.

The best thing about Smashed is the performance of Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the wife.  Winstead realistically takes her character through the carelessness, denial, humiliation and self-degradation of drinking and the fears and determination that co-exist in her recovery.  It’s a stellar performance, and I’ll be looking for Winstead in bigger roles.

Also very good are Nick Offerman as the wife’s colleague, Megan Mullally, unrecognizable as the wife’s boss, and the always delightful Octavia Spencer.

As The Wife pointed out, the amount of time that director and co-writer James Ponsoldt spent on the drinking part of the story means that lots of plot points whiz by in the final ten minutes.  Still, Smashed is very watchable and benefits from the breakthrough performance by Winstead.  It’s available on DVD from Netflix and Redbox and streaming from Amazon, iTunes and other VOD providers.

2012 in the Movies: breakthroughs

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Macy Gray in THE PAPERBOY

After seeing Ruby Sparks and Celeste and Jesse Forever, I can hardly wait for the next screenplays by actress-writers Zoe Kazan and Rashida Jones.  Those were two of the smartest and most inventive screenplays of the year, and revived the thought-to-be-brain dead romantic comedy genre.

Popular singer Macy Gray turned in an astonishing performance in The Paperboy.  Like Mariah Carey in Precious, Gray has proved that she can act.

Also in the The Paperboy and in Liberal Arts, Zac Efron proved that he is more than just the pretty boy of High School Musical.  I am looking forward to his dramatic turn in Ramin Bahrani’s  (Goodbye Solo, Chop Shop, Man Push Cart) At Any Price.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead turned in what should be a star-making performance in Smashed.  Let’s see if she gets a chance in a big movie.

Smashed: life is better when sober, but still messy

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In this indie drama, a couple navigates life while drunk.  Can they stay together and flourish when she sobers up?  Smashed is a remarkably realistic portrayal of the drinking life and the challenges of recovery and relapse, informed by the personal experience of co-writer Susan Burke.

The best thing about Smashed is the performance of Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the wife.  Winstead realistically takes her character through the carelessness, denial, humiliation and self-degradation of drinking and the fears and determination that co-exist in her recovery.  It’s a stellar performance, and I’ll be looking for Winstead in bigger roles.

Also very good are Nick Offerman as the wife’s colleague, Megan Mullally, unrecognizable as the wife’s boss, and the always delightful Octavia Spencer.

As The Wife pointed out, the amount of time that director and co-writer James Ponsoldt spent on the drinking part of the story means that lots of plot points whiz by in the final ten minutes.  Still, Smashed is very watchable and benefits from the breakthrough performance by Winstead.