I thought this little independent movie about a hard drinking couple and her subsequent sobriety was terrific, though Amy didn't like it as much as I did. Mary Elizabeth Winstead's performance as Kate is every bit as powerful as Denzel Washington's alcoholic in Flight, and it got her a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award, though her competition is tough this year. Winstead (known to me for playing Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) gives us all the mood swings and then some, accompanied by Aaron Paul (Amanda Seyfried's boyfriend/husband on Big Love and Jesse Pinkman on Breaking Bad) as her husband Charlie, Nick Offerman (best known as gruff Ron Swanson on 77 episodes of Parks and Recreation) sporting a neat goatee and trendy glasses as her fellow teacher, Megan Mullally (Offerman's real-life wife, best known for 187 episodes of Will & Grace) as the principal, Octavia Spencer (won Oscar for and profiled in The Help) as a friend, and Mary Kay Place (won an Emmy for Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman in 1976, she was great in Private Benjamin (1980), The Big Chill (1983), Manny & Lo (1996), Citizen Ruth (1996), Pecker (1998), The Safety of Objects (2001), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), Nine Lives (2005), It's Complicated, and 42 episodes of Big Love as Adaleen Grant) in a cameo as Kate's mother.
Susan Burke, who, in her debut, co-wrote the script (a lot of it by email) with director James Ponsoldt (he made one other feature), apparently got sober at age 24 and referenced some of her own experiences.
Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bat, Shins, Califones, Our Idiot Brother) and Andy Cabic are credited with the music, which also includes songs by others. 13 tracks are included on the soundtrack which can be previewed here.
Nominated for last year's Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, this is rated 83% by critics and 79 by audiences on rottentomatoes. We saw it two weeks ago on the last day of its limited local release--the DVD will be out in March.
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