Review of Smashed (2012) by Reece L — 31 Mar 2013

The subject matter kept me from this film for weeks. The Freshness rating - however - finally got the best of me. Yeah - it's another AA drama. But this one offers something a little more accessible and honest in my opinion. Our drunk in this case, Winstead, is a young elementary school teacher, who, unlike so many AA story subjects, recognizes her problem well before hitting rock-bottom. At first this seemed like a weakness. Without the complete collapse into the gutter we're able to take a look at her struggle in a different - more complicated drama. Her AA support team, Offerman and Spencer, struggle to avoid becoming cliches and don't entirely succeed - but Offerman's clumsy and poorly timed appeal to Winstead as a love interest starts his character in an interesting and fresh direction which is, unfortunately never developed fully.

But in all - an excellent movie and highly relatable ... especially if you know an energetic school teacher who struggles with substance abuse here in the real world.