by Andy Motz
Smashed
From the synopsis Smashed sounded like an intense gritty drama: A married couple whose relationship is based around getting wasted is put to the test once the wife decides to attend AA meetings and attempt sobriety. However director/co writer James Ponsoldt takes the film in a different direction than most in the substance abuse genre. Smashed is a full on dramedy that focus’s not only on the brokenness of the characters, but their humorous quirks as well. The best aspect of the film is certainly the performances, especially Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the main protagonist, Kate. Winstead brings not only heart and realism to the movie, but she also bursts with comedic energy. Yet Smashed is a dramedy that is much better in the moment than it is in retrospect. At times it is moving, at others it is a bit too obvious lacking subtlety and subtext. Still due to the actors in both large and small roles make the film an entertaining indie.
L
With an approximate number of walk out at twenty-five-people Babis Makridis (writer of Dogtooth) L is certainly one of the most divisive films at Sundance this year (along with Tim and Eric). It’s bizarre. It’s creative. It’s intellectually engaging. It’s difficult. It’s aesthetically astounding. And it’s brilliant. It is hard for one to even describe the plot of this absurdist piece of cinema. It tells both the universal but also personal story of Man (that’s his name) struggling to find answers in a world where nothing is certain. Man lives in his car alone. Once and awhile his ex-wife drops off the kids and he takes them driving around the city. He seems content with this. His career is one of driving to pick up honey for a rich man and he is very good at it. Still he continuously has reoccurring nightmares involving his best friend who lived in the honey fields as a bear only to be shot by a hunter. All this is only the tip of iceberg. Needless to say Samuel Beckett would be proud. In L’s short eighty minute running time it manages to explore the mysterious truth of our existence: that humans will always be searching for truth and answers. We change, our beliefs change, our friends will react differently to our changes, and life’s questions will never fully be answered. Babis Makridis explores this and more in a way that is truly unique, never boring, and constantly challenging.
Image Sources:
http://cdn05.film.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Smashed_MaryElizabethWinstead_AaronPaul_byOanaMarian.jpg
http://www.atthecinema.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/L.jpg
