Sherrybaby
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Movie Reviews of Sherrybaby
Movie Review: mesmerizing Gyllenhaal performance
Summary: 4 Stars
****1/2
Rarely have I seen a performer more completely inhabit a role than Maggie Gyllenhaal does in "Sherrybaby," an exquisitely realized drama that hits nary a single false note en route to its heartrending climax.
Sherry Swanson is a recovering heroin addict who has, as she herself puts it, "made all the wrong choices in life." Now out on parole and living in a halfway house in Northern New Jersey, Sherry finally has the chance to make things right both in her own life and with the young daughter she was forced to give up to her brother and sister-in-law when she went into rehab and prison. Sherry is a survivor, but one whose hold on life is often a precarious and tenuous one even at the best of times - and these are clearly not the best of times.
The beautiful thing about "Sherrybaby" is how, in her first full-length fictional film, writer/director Laurie Collyer allows the drama to unfold naturally, never pushing the material in any particular direction just to make a point. Indeed, there is nothing forced or contrived about the narrative at all. Displaying remarkable confidence as both a filmmaker and a storyteller - and evincing a strong feeling for the rhythms of everyday life - Collyer never allows the movie to slip over into the realm of melodrama despite endless opportunities to do so. As a director, she's smart enough to know what a great thing she has in Gyllenhaal, and thus she allows the actress full rein in developing the character. Every action, every movement, every facial expression on the part of the actress feels absolutely authentic to the person Sherry is. Like any living, breathing, fully developed character, Sherry is a walking mass of contradictions. Feisty, hardnosed and quick-to-anger as she can be at times, she also possesses a tenderness and vulnerability that make us believe she can truly change. And Gyllenhaal captures all those moods and contradictions perfectly without ever once veering into overstatement or scenery-chewing histrionics.
Although I don't think Gyllenhaal is ever off the screen for a single moment in the film, her tour de force performance is not the only one worth taking note of here. There is also exceptional work by Brad William Henke, Bridget Barkin, Danny Trejo, Sam Bottoms, Giancarlo Esposito, and, above all, Ryan Simpkins, who, at the tender age of seven, is already a powerhouse of acting talent as Sherry's beloved daughter, Alexis.
Naturalism in both performance and atmosphere is what makes "Sherrybaby" such a compelling and convincing movie-watching experience. The film has the rare power to draw viewers into its own private world and to make them an integral part of the characters' lives.
"Sherrybaby," in addition to being one of the best movies of 2006 in its own right, will be forever remembered as a showcase for one of the finest pieces of acting ever put on the screen.
Movie Review: a different kind of suspense
Summary: 4 Stars
About halfway through watching this fine movie, I realized that I was just as tense as hell. Tension, of course, implies emotional investment, and emotional investment implies that a movie is really clicking.
The movie is about a recovering heroin addict who has just been released on parole from prison, and about her increasingly frustrated attempts to get to know the daughter she had to leave behind. I won't go into the rest of the plot, but suffice it to say that Sherry's struggles had me on edge. I wouldn't even consider classifying the movie as a suspense film . . . but I found myself in absolute suspense, feeling during practically every scene that things were on the verge of going wrong, and BADLY wrong at that. I found that I was feeling more suspense over what was going to become of poor Sherry than I can remember feeling at the movies in a while.
Needless to say, the best reason to see the movie is Maggie Gyllenhaal. Shr's really pretty great. She really inhabits the character, and what's she's doing often feels less like Acting than it does like . . . well, like you're just watching a real person. Some people are put off by that kind of performance, but for the rest of us, she's pretty sublime here. (And I've got to say it . . . DAMN is she hot. Call me whatever you like, but it's true. The costume designer for this movie, who apparently had the idea for Gyllenhall to AT NO POINT wear a bra, ought to be given some sort of special Oscar. Sexist rant now ceases. Seriously, though . . . HOT.)
I was also delighted to find Danny Trejo playing a normal character in this movie. He's usually playing a criminal or some other type of thug, but here he's just a charming, helpful ex-con trying to help Sherry stay clean. I suppose there's a darker side to that story if you really care to see it, but I'm too pleased to see Trejo getting different kind of work, and being good at it, too.
I also admire how economical the screenplay is. The film is only 96 minutes long, but it feels neither too short nor too long. Every scene serves a solid purpose, and none of them are squandered. You don't get that in very many movies. Usually even the best movies have scenes that could easily have been cut.
Highly recommended for anyone who likes movies about character.
(One final note. I'm interested in how this movie serves as a darker sort of companion piece to one of 2006's biggest moneymakers, "The Pursuit of Happyness." Both movies are about troubled single parents who spend the entire movie on a nearly Homeric quest to achieve a specific goal. It would make for an interesting double feature, and I'm intrigued by the fact that two of the year's most-lauded performances come from such thematically similar movies.)
Movie Review: Great role for Gyllenhaal
Summary: 4 Stars
The role of the "bad girl" has been very, very good to young actresses lately--just think of Julia Roberts ("Erin Brockavich"), Charlize Theron ("Monster"), Angelina Jolie ("Girl, Interrupted") to name a few that have won Oscar accolades by going blonde and tough.
Now, it's Maggie Gyllenhaal's turn, and she doesn't disappoint at all. In the first role where she is asked to carry an entire movie, Maggie displays impressive acting chops...( and nice gams, too.)
Sherry Swanson (Gyllenhaal) is first seen as she returns to her hometown area, on parole from prison. She is a dirty sweet, tough-on-the-outside girl who flaunts a cool, but thin veneer of confidence. She also smokes cigarettes with more moxie than any movie blonde since Gena Rowlands. As she checks into the halfway house, she takes no guff from the girls, and immediately begins using her sexuality on men to get what she wants. Her single-minded goal is to reunite with her very young daughter, Lexie,and take custody of her again. To do that, she has to fight through the barrier of her brother and his wife, who have cared for Lexie while Sherry was in prison.
When she finally reaches her brother Bobby's home, Gyllenhaal's character begins to reveal her true self. Her look, which before was predominantly one of blankness, dissolves into expressions of repressed anger, sadness, and need. Gyllenhaal's expressive face registers every emotional state without having to resort to overacting.
When her father arrives at Bobby's house, Sherry shows that beneath it all, she is more of a needy child than Lexie. Later on, the reasons for her arrested development are made obvious, when her father comforts her in a very inappropriate manner. As Sherry undergoes a transition from blonde to brunette, her facade of toughness begins to dissolve. Sherry begins to crumble. In the end, she finally admits that she's not ready to raise her daughter, and belatedly acknowledges her brother's role as caretaker.
Maggie Gyllenhaal's expertly shaded performance is the primary reason to see this movie. But, beyond that the movie doesn't have that many strong points. It is good at showing the way that social workers interact with offenders--sometimes with toughness, sometimes with a coziness that borders on impropriety.
"Sherrybaby" is a movie with limited ambitions. It amounts to a good, but not great "Indie". The musical score seems so "Indie-fied" that it is really kind of annoying, and the denouement of the story is a bit pat.
Most importantly, Maggie Gyllenhaal here has made an announcement that she is an actor to be reckoned with.
Movie Review: Satisfying, but in a "let's discuss" kind of way
Summary: 4 Stars
The intelligent, engaging "Sherrybaby" probably reveals more about the people who watch it than it ultimately does about its own characters. As seen in many of these reviews, some viewers will empathize with Sherry, feeling bad that her kid is essentially being taken from her by her brother and his wife. Others will recognize and appreciate the sacrifice Sherry's brother and his wife are doing in raising a little girl who'd otherwise be subject to an unstable mother.
I related to both views. Sherry has a good heart and is a strong woman in many ways, but she's in a damaged emotional state that makes it all too easy for her to weaken and turn again to drugs. Sherry's brother Bobby and his wife just want Sherry's daughter to have a decent upbringing, but they can often be needlessly insensitive when discussing the little girl with her mother. In other words, these characters are genuinely complex and make for an interesting, thoughtful film. But you'll have to be open to a film that doesn't offer easy answers.
Myself, I saw a ray of hope at the end for these characters' futures. In the unlikely event that there's a "Sherrybaby II" (for better or worse, small, interesting art house movies generally don't get sequels), I like to think that we'd see that these characters had eventually reached a situation or accommodation among themselves where everyone has gained a little peace and a sense of being fairly treated.
"Sherrybaby" features an anamorphic widescreen image that looks great on a flatscreen TV, and the movie sounds great, too. There are no extras to speak of, except for a trailer that goes a little over-the-top in its praise of Maggie Gyllenhaal's admittedly excellent portrayal: the trailer actually uses the phrase "Oscar bait!" like those classic movie-parody skits on the old SCTV show. But don't let a few goofy moments in the trailer put you off. "Sherrybaby" is definitely worth a look.
Movie Review: Great vehicle for Gyllenhaal
Summary: 4 Stars
See this film for a tour de force performance by Maggie Gyllenhaal. She is amazing at getting you to care about a burned out self-destructive, selfish, drug addict.
The script leaves a lot to be desired. Somewhere I read that the writer based the film on the life of friend of hers. So it is a stunning portrait of this person, be she fictional or real. However, as a film, the structure is weak. We see Sherry as she encounters problem after problem and I had the feeling that disaster was around the corner at every moment. And it usually was. There were a few happy moments when she worked with kids at a daycare center, but most of the action was about pain and trouble. Too much of this makes for a one-dimensional film.
At one point, near the end of the film, we see an encounter with her father when his comforting hug turns sexual which I guess is supposed to account for how Sherry became a drug addict in the first place. As much as I appreciate the writer not hitting us over the head with this bit of information, it is glossed over so casually that it left me wondering if that was really it? Surely she seems addicted to sex as well as drugs. Well, the girl really is a mess. And yet I kept pulling for her.
Somehow this seems closer to a documentary of what a person goes through upon emerging from prison, than a piece of fiction. It is hard to watch and I think a lot of people might have a hard time with it. Gyllenhaal's beauty and charm carry the show. She is a fearless actress and for that I give the movie four stars. But it is more than a little disturbing so I can't recommend it to everyone.