Mary Getting TONS of Early Buzz for Smashed

This is super exciting! Smashed is only a few days from premiering at Sundance 2012 and Mary has been getting a bunch of early online buzz for her performance as well as one of the films to check out if you’re attending Sundance. Huge congrats Mary! This is only the beginning of one heck of an amazing career! We’ll keep you posted on all Sundance updates and photos of Mary!

THR for one, named Mary as one of the six faces to watch out for:

Although the 27-year-old actress has done her share of studio work (The Thing, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Final Destination 3), her raw performance in the competition film Smashed as a woman struggling to shed her marriage’s dependence on alcohol showcases stripped-down dramatic chops that could open doors.

NextMovie also praises Mary’s acting, saying it’ll show audiences her acting chops. Something we’ve all known she’s always had. 😉

Mary Elizabeth Winstead (“The Thing”) has long been one of our favorite young actresses, but up until now she’s never really been given the chance to show what we knew she had all along — real acting chops. That all looks to change with her reportedly harrowing turn in “Smashed,” an intense drama in which she stars as Kate, a hard partying elementary schoolteacher forced to get her life on track. Winstead is the reason we’re psyched to see this, but the film also boasts a solid supporting cast that includes Aaron Paul (“Breaking Bad”), Octavia Spencer (“The Help”) and “Will and Grace” funny-lady Megan Mullaly.

FilmSchoolRejects also echoes the same feelings…

While many films look at addiction and the downward spiral it can send users into, Smashed looks to focus on the point between rock bottom and recovery as Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) sobers up and realizes that her marriage to Charlie (Aaron Paul) may have been rooted in booze rather than love. Paul has been getting critical acclaim for his work on AMC’s Breaking Bad and it should be interesting to see him playing against Windstead (whose performance was one of the highlights in last year’s The Thing) with TV royalty Nick Offerman and wife Megan Mullally rounding out the cast.