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Article IndexBY MIRIAM RINN
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
MOVIE REVIEW
If you think drunks are funny, you’ll probably enjoy “Smashed.” If you think they’re embarrassing and pathetic, you may appreciate this small, poignant film even more, since it traces the attempt of a young elementary school teacher to stop drinking and stay sober. Written by James Ponsoldt and Susan Burke and directed by Ponsoldt, “Smashed” steers away from overt moralizing but doesn’t shrink from depicting some of the less amusing aspects of chronic heavy drinking. Waking up in strange places, losing bladder control, finding herself entertaining crack addicts finally convinces this teacher that she may have a problem.
A groggy Kate Hannah (a transcendent Mary Elizabeth Winstead) wakes up to go to work and realizes that she has wet the bed. Her husband Charlie (“Breaking Bad’s” Aaron Paul) doesn’t seem surprised or dismayed. Evidently, it happens a lot, just one of the aftereffects of a night of partying. Kate and Charlie are both cheerful drunks, and they enjoy being drunk together. What’s a wet bed between pals?
Pulling up to her school, Kate takes a swallow out of a flask in the glove compartment before going into her first-grade classroom. It’s obvious she’s a gifted teacher. She larks around the room, drawing answers from her studen ts who follow her every move. She seems to genuinely enjoy her work. Suddenly, overwhelmed with nausea, Kate vomits on the floor. When one little girl recounts that her mother threw up all the time when she was pregnant, the kids immediately ask Kate if she’s going to have a baby. Kate says yes, just to get off the subject, and she repeats the story to the principal so she can leave early.
Winstead is very effective and affecting as Kate, someone who gets louder and more sociable as she gets drunker. We see why alcohol is appealing to her--a dozen beers makes her the life of the party--and Charlie and his friends enjoy her antics. Paul, who has won numerous Emmys for his portrayal of Jesse on “Breaking Bad,” doesn’t have nearly as much to do in this film until the end, but he delivers a strong performance when it‘s called for. Charlie is a good-natured guy who is in love with his wife, but mostly when they are both drunk. It’s not the sex, since their drinking makes that rare and unsatisfying. They just like hanging out with a couple cases of beer and nothing much to do. Hey, 30 is the new 19. When he’s sober, Charlie has to confront the reality that he’s surviving on the generosity of his parents and that his career as a music writer isn’t going anywhere fast. There’s not much fun in that.
Nick Offerman of “Parks and Recreation” plays the vice-principal who suggests that Kate needs to go to AA and Megan Mullaly of “Will and Grace” portrays the principal who is far more excited about Kate’s pregnancy than she should be. Casting comic actors for these roles indicates that the filmmaker was aiming for a partial comedy at the least. Offerman and Mullaly do good work, but the laughs are few. Alcoholism just isn’t that amusing. Or maybe it’s just me.
