Smashed

Name: Smashed
Released: 2012-10-12
Cast: Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman, Aaron Paul, Mary Kay Place, Octavia Spencer

Smashed

R
1h 21m
2012

83%

age 17+

PRICING SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Confirm current pricing with applicable retailer. All transactions subject to applicable license terms and conditions.

Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Charlie (Aaron Paul, TV’s “Breaking Bad” ) are a young married couple whose bond is built on a mutual love of music, laughter and drinking...especially the drinking. When Kate’s drinking leads her to dangerous places and her job as a school teacher is put into jeopardy, she decides to join AA and get sober. With the help of her new friend and sponsor Jenny (Octavia Spencer, The Help), and the vice principal at her school, the awkward, but well intentioned, Mr. Davies, Kate takes steps toward improving her health and life. Sobriety isn't as easy as Kate had anticipated. Her new lifestyle brings to the surface a troubling relationship with her mother, facing the lies she's told her employer (Megan Mullally TV’s “Parks and Recreation” ) and calls into question whether or not her relationship with Charlie is built on love or just a boozy diversion from adulthood.

Director:

James Ponsoldt

Producer:

Jennifer Cochis, Jonathan Schwartz, Andrea Sperling

Writer:

James Ponsoldt, Susan Burke

Cast:

Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman, Aaron Paul, Mary Kay Place, Octavia Spencer, Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Rotten Tomatoes® Score

TOMATOMETER®

83%

Critics Consensus: Smashed resists the temptation to play up its serious subject matter for high theatrics, opting instead to let its gentle tone and Mary Elizabeth Winstead's marvelous performance carry the day.

Reviews

From the Front Row

Matthew Lucas

This may be Winstead's show, but Ponsoldt displays a remarkable restraint that demonstrates a keen directorial instinct.

There's nothing completely astonishing or shocking that goes on in Smashed, but that's not to say it isn't captivating and completely worth your time.

Smashed is wall-to-wall good intentions from the moment Kate decides to go to a meeting.

While writer/director James Ponsoldt's screenplay tends to saunter along at times as it seeps further into starkness, Winstead and Paul's performances will keep you engaged until the end.

While Smashed doesn't flinch away from some grim realities of alcoholism, it's not an unrelentingly grim kitchen-sink drama; there are attempts at a bit of black comedy.

September 1, 2017

FULL REVIEW

Common Sense Media

age 17+

Common Sense Says

Intense alcoholism study shows difficulties of recovery.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Smashed is a gritty drama about a woman who's an alcoholic and tries to stop drinking. (Her husband is also a heavy drinker, and he doesn't stop.) Though the main character's alcoholism is really only shown during the movie's first third, it's intense, and the horrifying side effects of her drinking start to outweigh whatever fun she's having. She also smokes crack in one scene. Language is the movie's other big issue, with several uses of "f--k," "s--t," and "bitch." There's no physical violence but expect lots of shouting and arguing; there's no nudity, but viewers see a married couple kissing and initiating sex with one another. There's also a failed attempt at sex. Overall, this is a well-made cautionary tale with hope as well as harshness, and it could be a good way for teens to learn empathy for people facing addiction.