After a night of partying places her once more in a bizarre and potentially dangerous situation, and also leads to an awkward situation at her job, a kindergarten teacher (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) decides its finally time to get serious about her drinking problem, which has harsh repercussions on her marriage. James Ponsoldt's Smashed has noble intentions of dealing honestly with alcoholism and perhaps even has insight on the disease that affects so many individuals but goes about it completely pathetically, either with inept acting, particularly from Aaron Paul who places the immature, likewise addicted husband, or through lame moments of comic levity which are present to soften the blow from the otherwise weighty material. Winstead, in a performance that earned some good notices when the film was released, struggles with consistency and especially during some of her more challenging sequences.
