Opening: Smashed

A hit at his year’s Sundance Festival, this indie drama centers on the trials and tribulations of Kate Hannah (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), an alcoholic who begins to realize she has a problem when she lies and tells her elementary school students that she’s pregnant after she throws up during class one day. When a fellow teacher (Nick Offerman) suggests she start attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, she takes him up on the offer and begins to sober up. That doesn’t sit so well with her party-hearty husband (Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul), and the two start to argue as he continues to drink and invite friends over to his house to hang out and drink. While the subject matter here is compelling, the film really struggles to put together a compelling narrative. It doesn’t help that director James Ponsoldt, who also co-wrote the script, shot the movie as if it were a documentary, something that only exacerbates the lack of any real plot development. Cedar Lee Theatre.
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Jeff Niesel

Jeff has been covering the Cleveland music scene for more than 20 years now. And on a regular basis, he tries to talk to whatever big acts are coming through town, too. If you're in a band that he needs to hear, email him at [email protected].
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