The DC Examiner reviewed Smashed and gave it a pretty great review. Here’s part of the review:
Mary Elizabeth Winstead gives a compelling, Oscar-worthy performance as Kate, a fun-loving wild child who is rarely sober, and rarely needs to be with her equally sloshed music journalist husband Charlie(Aaron Paul) enabling her at every turn. Fairly early on we see these two are a toxic pair, with Charlie allowing his wife to drive off in a drunken stupor, the evening devolving into a random crack smoking binge, and ending with Kate waking up in the middle of nowhere on a street corner.
Due for a role she could really sink her teeth into, Winstead is a revelation as Kate, and will remind some of Gena Rowland’s award-nominated turn in A Woman Under the Influence. She’s more than just the typical caricature of a drunk, but plays someone whose learned alcoholic behavior filled her with a false glow. Without it, she’s all jitters and social anxiety, incapable of dealing with the full force of life crashing down around her. You won’t find a better female performance this season. Paul is solid, but he shrinks a little bit opposite Winstead. This is clearly her show, and she more than runs away with it.
Scorecard Review also interviewed Mary and James about the film. As always, click on the link to read it in full:
Did working with this story make you re-examine how you view alcohol and those who abuse it?
Winstead: It made me look at a lot of the people I know in Los Angeles. I drink, I’ve never been compelled to drink a lot, or felt good when I drink a lot. And certainly I have been drunk many times, but it’s just not something I really enjoy. I love getting just a little bit tipsy, or having a couple drinks. But my whole life, for whatever reason, I usually cut myself off after that. I have other problems, but I looked at the friendships and relationships that I have, and the people who I have never seen sober, or talked to them when they’re sober. When you’re young enough, you think, “Ah, there’s that crazy kid that I used to talk those times,” but the film definitely makes you think about these people, and at what point do you start worrying about them. And in Los Angeles, and this industry, that line is continually more and more blurred. The older I get, the older my friends get, I don’t really know where it is, and I think the line is different for everyone.
And ShockTillYouDrop also had a brief interview with Mary:
As someone who feels more comfortable with films like Scott Pilgrim and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, how was your comfort zone on this?
It was scary for me to take it on, because I had never done anything like this before. I was always wondering ‘when am I going to get one of these parts?’, and then when you actually get the part you’re like ‘how do I do this!?’. But the response has been good and it’s really helped my confidence so I’m looking forward to hopefully doing more roles like this. I definitely feel more confident doing leading dramatic roles.
Is there anything you can relate to in regards to your character?
Oh yeah. I mean, when I first read it, I was probably in too much denial of my own problems to relate to her. And then when I really started looking at the things in my life, and looking at myself, it was sort of like the flood gates opened and the whole movie was kind of a breeze. I kind of figured it out and it unlocked everything.