STARRING: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul, Octavia Spencer, Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman
CO-WRITER/DIRECTOR: James Ponsoldt
IN THEATERS: October 12, 2012 (NY, LA)
SYNOPSIS: In Smashed, Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Charlie (Aaron Paul) 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 an elementary school teacher is put into jeopardy, she decides to join AA and get sober. Sobriety isn’t as easy as Kate had anticipated. She realizes she must face a difficult past, including a troubled relationship with her mother, ( Mary Kay Place ) a party girl in her own right. To cover up a drinking related incident which takes place in the classroom, Kate fabricates a story to her employer, the school principal, Patricia Barnes, (Megan Mullally) who is overly nurturing and perhaps nosy. This lie soon balloons out of control and Kate is faced with a myriad of important choices she must make. Charlie, a music writer, whose care-free demeanor hasn’t changed much since college, struggles to be supportive of Kate’s new lifestyle. However, he doesn’t quite grasp why she thinks she has a problem and loves her very much the way that she is, drunk and fun. His own juvenile tendencies are threatened by Kate’s tee totaling and when the party is taken out of the relationship both Kate and Charlie question if their marriage is built on love or is just boozy diversion from adulthood. Kate finds new friendships through AA with one with her supportive sponsors, Jenny (Octavia Spencer) and another with the vice principal at her school, Dave Davies (Nick Offerman). Davies, who at first comes off as well-meaning, though awkward and a bit nerdy, has a bizarre history of his own that led him to a life of recovery. Even with the support of AA and new friends like Jenny and Mr. Davies, Kate still feels very alone during the delicate and often scary early days of sobriety. Without Charlie’s support, their marriage suffers more, and both Kate and Charlie push each other away.
