Aaron Paul’s ‘Smashed’ to open in Duke City

In the film Paul plays Charlie, who is married to Kate, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. The two are a young married couple whose bond is built on a mutual love of music, laughter and drinking — especially the drinking.

When Kate’s drinking leads her to dangerous places and her job as an elementary school teacher is put into jeopardy, she decides to join AA and get sober. Sobriety isn’t as easy as Kate had anticipated. She realizes she must face a difficult past, including a troubled relationship with her mother, played by Mary Kay Place, a party girl in her own right.

To cover up a drinking related incident which takes place in the classroom, Kate fabricates a story to her employer, the school principal, Patricia Barnes played by Megan Mullally, who is overly nurturing and perhaps nosy. This lie soon balloons out of control and Kate is faced with many important choices she must make.

Charlie, a music writer, whose care-free demeanor hasn’t changed much since college, struggles to be supportive of Kate’s new lifestyle. However, he doesn’t quite grasp why she thinks she has a problem and loves her very much the way that she is, drunk and fun. His own juvenile tendencies are threatened by Kate’s teetotaling and when the party is taken out of the relationship both Kate and Charlie question if their marriage is built on love or is just boozy diversion from adulthood.

Kate finds new friendships through AA. One with her supportive sponsor Jenny played by Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, and another with the vice principal at her school, Dave Davies played by Nick Offerman. Davies, who at first comes off as well-meaning, though awkward and a bit nerdy, has a bizarre history of his own that led him to a life of recovery. Even with the support of AA and new friends like Jenny and Mr. Davies, Kate still feels very alone during the delicate and often scary early days of sobriety. Without Charlie’s support, their marriage suffers more, and both Kate and Charlie push each other away.

Paul is known for his acclaimed performance in the AMC drama “Breaking Bad” and his role in the HBO hit series “Big Love.” He has twice won the Emmy Award for “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series” for “Breaking Bad” in both 2010 and 2012.

Paul is currently appearing in the fifth season of “Breaking Bad” reprising the role of Jesse Pinkman opposite Bryan Cranston. The critically acclaimed show was nominated for 13 Emmy Awards in 2012, bringing the show’s total to 29 nominations with 7 wins.

In 2010, Paul won his first Emmy for “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.