A couple of new Smashed reviews have been posted online, praising Mary’s performance in the film. The first review is from the St. Louis Post Dispatch:
There will never be another Marilyn Monroe or Elizabeth Taylor, but Hollywood may have found a new Lee Remick in Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Like Remick, Winstead could pass for a cheerleader (as she was outfitted in Quentin Tarantino’s half of “Grindhouse”). But behind the pretty face is a brave actress, and “Smashed” is her answer to “The Days of Wine and Roses.”
Winstead plays Kate, an elementary school teacher who lives in a hipster enclave of Los Angeles with husband Charlie (Aaron Paul of “Breaking Bad,” who may be the new Ben Foster). The Sundance-approved script by writer-director James Ponsoldt doesn’t waste time charting their downward spiral or its causes — by the time we meet them, Kate and Charlie are already falling down drunk.
While Kate’s embrace of AA (where the confessors include Octavia Spencer) is a bit too quick, Winstead strikes a believably ambivalent note about whether her youthful exuberance is a bad thing.
The JCOnline also loved Mary’s performance in the film:
The performance of Mary Elizabeth Winstead as a young alcoholic battling to get and remain sober elevates “Smashed” from clichéd underpinnings.Winstead’s vulnerability, turmoil and pain as she faces the challenges of beginning a new life without the crutch of booze are heartbreaking as well as courageous.
Hollywood has had a long history of movies about drunks from “A Star Is Born” to “The Lost Weekend,” from “I’ll Cry Tomorrow” to “Days of Wine and Roses.”
And many cover the same areas: the denial, the loneliness, the inner turmoil and self-loathing. “Smashed” displays many of these familiar themes as well.
Yet Winstead’s performance overcomes the familiarity as we watch her downward spiral and her climb to redemption.