James Ponsoldt’s Smashed debuted at Sundance this year and came away not only with an award in hand, but also with a substantial level of critical acclaim, and early buzz for the coming Oscar season for its leading duo of Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) and Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) – very impressive, given that the film screened at the festival before this year’s Oscars had even taken place.
Sony Pictures Classics will be releasing the film next month, and with the film screening at TIFF this week, Yahoo Movies have debuted the first trailer and poster, and they are both exactly as brilliant as we expected.
“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 is directing from a script he co-wrote with newcomer Susan Burke, with Jonathan Schwartz (Wristcutters: A Love Story, Like Crazy), Andrea Sperling (Like Crazy, Nobody Walks), and Jennifer Cochis (Douchebag) producing.
And starring alongside the excellent duo of Winstead and Paul will be Octavia Spencer (The Help), Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation), Megan Mullally (Will & Grace), and Mary Kay Place (Big Love).
I’m currently here in Toronto and will be seeing the film tomorrow night. It’s one of the main reasons I decided to fly a few thousand miles for the festival, and I cannot wait to see it.
Smashed will be given a limited release in the US on 12th October, before continuing to open on a wider release in successive weeks. Still no word yet on a UK release, but with the praise already high for the film, and likely set to grow coming out of Toronto, here’s to hoping we’ll see it on our shores soon in time for the Oscars. For now, here is the brilliant first trailer, followed by the poster, which you can click to enlarge.
