Smashed
Directed by James Ponsoldt
Sony Pictures Classics
Alcoholism is a theme all too common in modern cinema. It has come to represent a character’s inability to deal with their realities, and has come to be a cliché of hitting rock bottom. Smashed is a movie that takes these thematic expectations and throws them away.
Kate Hannah, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, is an elementary school teacher whose life revolves around drinking and her similarly alcoholic husband (Aaron Paul). Despite her obvious alcoholism, drinking seems to make Kate legitimately happy, and the movie’s tone remains positive when she is drunk with her husband.
When Kate begins to recover at alcoholics anonymous, her life falls to shambles. Although sober, Kate loses her job and husband, and seems to be missing most of her playful energy.
The film’s depiction of alcoholics is incredible, not writing them off as self-deprecating monsters, but as full, developing characters. It was often hard to tell exactly where the film was going to go from one moment to another, and although this provided for a fast-paced cinematic experience, it sometimes resulted in storylines that felt stunted.
One example is the build-up of Kate’s relationship with her mother. After hearing plenty of talk about the character, the couple visits her house halfway through the film, never to mention her again. Despite this clustered feeling in the plot’s trajectory, the film constantly mirrored Kate’s feelings with incredible impact. This of course had plenty to do with the acting.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s performance as Kate was truly one of the best of the year. Kate’s character is incredibly complex, haunted by her impulsiveness, alcoholism and patchy past, and Winstead effortlessly manages all facets of this personality. From her most stoic moments in the AA meetings to her violent outbursts at her husband, Winstead seems natural in the role, and it is difficult to imagine anybody else playing the part.
Aaron Paul, who played Kate’s husband Charlie, also fit his role well. Paul is most famous for his roles in critically acclaimed TV shows Big Love and Breaking Bad. Seeing Paul finding such a fitting role in a feature-length film immediately recalls his fellow Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston’s appearance in last year’s phenomenal Drive. Like Cranston, Paul’s character is far removed from his roles in television, although he brings an equal amount of charisma.
Because of the strength of the lead actors, the movie develops a reliance on their chemistry that mirrors their characters’ reliance on one another. This reliance is ultimately destroyed by Kate’s sobriety. In this sense, Smashed is a melancholic film.
Although there is a dull hope of reunion at the end of the film, one can’t help but to wonder exactly why we feel pity for either character. Both spend the movie making choices that are not definitively good or bad for them, and the film creates this conflict on purpose.
The essence of Smashed comes from its blurring of social standards, and our definitions of good, bad, happy and unhappy. We are often left to make our own judgments on the characters’ ever-changing lives, and this makes the film refreshing and unique.
