James Ponsoldt’s Smashed debuted at Sundance at the start of the year to brilliant reviews, coming away from the festival with an award in hand and early buzz for Oscar-worthy performances from its leading stars, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) and Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad).
Last week, we heard that Sony Pictures Classics had set the film’s US release date for 12th October, and now we’ve got nine new images to share, giving us a look a transformed Winstead, significantly more washed-out than we’re used to seeing her, on her path to sobriety.
“Kate and Charlie like to have a good time. Their marriage thrives on a shared fondness for music, laughter . . . and getting smashed. When Kate’s partying spirals into hard-core asocial behavior, compromising her job as an elementary schoolteacher, something’s got to give. But change isn’t exactly a cakewalk. Sobriety means she will have to confront the lies she’s been spinning at work, her troubling relationship with her mother, and the nature of her bond with Charlie.”
Ponsoldt (Off the Black) is behind the camera once more, co-writing the script with newcomer Susan Burke, with a great trio of Jonathan Schwartz (Wristcutters: A Love Story, Like Crazy), Andrea Sperling (Like Crazy, Nobody Walks), and Jennifer Cochis (Douchebag) producing.
And starring alongside Winstead and Paul will be Octavia Spencer (The Help), Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation), Megan Mullally (Will & Grace), and Mary Kay Place (Big Love).
Having made its debut at Sundance at the start of the year, the film will also be heading to TIFF next month, which should give it that much more of a presence as we head into the awards season later this year.
Smashed will be released in the US on 12th October, most likely initially in a limited engagement in New York and LA, before opening wider in successive weeks. No word yet on a UK release, but with the Oscar buzz already high for Winstead in particular, I’m hoping we’ll see it before the end of the year, too. For now, enjoy these excellent new images, which includes a final shot of Winstead on set with Ponsoldt, and as usual, you can click to enlarge.
