Sherrybaby (2006)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

This movie paved a new road to a previously unknown art form. Something I've never seen before on screen, or in real life.As many have pointed out - it has sub par acting, poor script writing and looks as if it was directed by a high school media student who gets bad grades. But that's all been done before.There was one thing that this movie had that no other movie before ever had. That is, the art of audible smoking.I've known a lot of smokers over the years, both male and female, young and old. And I've never seen (or should I say heard) any of them smoke the way the lead "actress" of this film does. This audible smoking technique runs throughout the film, but the most notable example is the scene in her brother's kitchen where she is standing in front of the wall phone.There's the loud inhale, a brief pause, and then the louder exhale carefully skewing the mouth sideways so as not to blow smoke at the cameraman.Another example is when the biker enters her room. Once again, the loud inhale, a brief pause and then the louder sideways exhale.I've been on earth for over half a decade. Like I said, I've known a lot of smokers. But I've never seen or heard any of them smoke like this.

"Sherrybaby" is a film about a young woman who has just been let out of prison and is attempting to fit back into society. As you might guess, it ain't easy. This story has been around since the first prison was invented (or at least since Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables"), but it's always very interesting because, if done properly, it deals with a lot of complex themes. "Sherrybaby" rises to the challenge and succeeds.I'll warn you, this story comes at you pretty hard & heavy. It pulls no punches, showing us the sleaziest, rudest, most annoying aspects of human society and its prejudices. This is NOT a good date movie, nor will it instill you with a surge of love for your fellow humans, that's for sure. But it does carry some inspiring messages about what it takes to succeed as a human being in an unforgiving world.There are a lot of disturbing clichés, like abusive officers who flaunt their authority to degrade poor Sherry, or like the bitchy family members who are trying to keep Sherry from her daughter, or all the men she meets who treat her like nothing more than a sexual object. There is definitely a cynical vibe that runs through the entire story, and not many characters are likable...in fact you basically hate almost everyone (which is a compliment to the excellent acting). But there are also some unexpected spots of brightness, and that's what kept me interested. At the end of the film, I felt satisfied.I've seen several films that deal with ex-convicts reintegrating themselves back into society. My favourites, which I highly recommend, are "I've Loved You So Long (2008) and a quirky, hilarious little flick called "Buffalo 66" (1998). And of course there's the must-see film "Slingblade" (1996).

Maggie Gyllenhaal is one of those polyvalent actors you mistake for someone else, at least until you've seen enough movies in which she delivered a performance that leaves you with a lasting impression. So she did for me in a few movies; her portrayal of a person with a certain mental disorder I can't identify by name and which would take way too long to describe, assured I would remember her even if I still can't pronounce her name correctly most of the time. That movie was "Secretary". It is not a movie I'd recommend to anyone I don't know well enough, nor is "Sherrybaby". The former, because I might be mistaken for a pervert, and the later because hard luck stories tend not to be entertaining or of interest to most. Gyllenhaal plays the role of Sherry Swanson.The IMDb storyline is adequate enough to give you an idea of the kind of movie it may be. If that storyline does not turn you off and you should decide to watch the film, you'll be more than satisfied. Gyllenhaal is most convincing as Sherry; I can't begin to understand how or what method she uses, but talent is a must to be sure. I need to repeat that this movie is not for everyone; it depicts a very rough life you soon understand is one that started when Sherry was younger. It is a conclusion obvious to draw. This will be hard to watch if you are the mother of a young child. The director probably made a conscious effort to avoid clichés and she was effective in my opinion. If you see any, it's because you don't like the acting as much as I did. Can you remember a movie in which Danny Trejo is a kind and caring person character? Get this; he's believable in that very role in this movie. Now imagine what good stuff Laurie Collyer, the director pulled off with the rest of the movie.

The title says it all - Sherry is a young woman who still in many ways acts like a child. She has had an unfortunate start to her life which culminated with her becoming a single mother saddled with a drug habit she could not support financially that inevitably led to her appearing in Court for petty theft. She received quite a long jail sentence and the film opens when she had served enough of this to be released on probation. We quickly appreciate that her problems largely resulted from immaturity which was mainly a consequence of her home upbringing rather than due to any basic character fault of her own. She was released with a very good prison record after making a real attempt to rehabilitate herself; with the one unwavering objective of getting re-united with her daughter Alexis, now living with her brother and his wife, as quickly as possible. But we also appreciate that she is far from mature (even though not quite a baby) and will have difficulty finding a successful way forward on her own in our complex modern society. It looks long odds that before long she will revert to using drugs again and will be back where she was when she first became entangled with the law. This film is a real tearjerker - Sherry is played as an immature character with whom one can sympathise; so when the film bluntly shows the problems such an individual faces, and we watch the many blows that life outside prison is inflicting on her, we have imminent expectations of seeing a final blow which will overwhelm her and lead to her return to prison with the prospect of no more than an unfulfilled lifetime of petty crime in front of her.This expected ending might be a route for achieving an art-house film award, but the scriptwriter and director clearly recognised it would not be likely to to lead to box office success, particularly as the story is filmed in a totally non-judgmental style so that it screens almost like a documentary crying out for a final resolution. However Sherry's battle for acceptance and respect will clearly be a long one and any quick definitive ending which implied the end of Sherry's problems would be artistically unrealistic. Instead the film wisely ends at one significant staging point in her long struggle. (SPOILER AHEAD} Her brother, although anxious to give her his full help and support, is unable to do so effectively whilst she continues to believe all her problems result directly from the unjustified suspicions of her contemporaries. Eventually this dichotomy drives her back to heroin again, but she bravely pulls up short, recognising both that there were legitimate fears on the part of her so-called friends, and that she needs more help if she is to finally develop a lifestyle acceptable to those among whom she is living. The film ends with her going into a detox centre, but before doing so she returns to her brother to accept the offer of help she had been rejecting before . We know she will still have many battles ahead of her, but at this point she has won the first and greatest of them; and she now has a real chance to eventually become fully reintegrated into her community. We wish her well as the film ends at what would otherwise have been a very uncertain point. Although simple, in my experience such an ending is unusually realistic for films dealing with this type of subject matter.Without the truly outstanding performance by Molly Gyllenhaal as Sherry this film would provide very flat viewing, like a rather sterile documentary intended to make us more sympathetic to those who have stumbled along the wayside, but not really involving our emotions. Molly has lifted it well above this level and most of the other performances (including that of the young actress who played her daughter) are also excellent. Some IMDb users have said that they do not care for her acting, but her award winning portrayal of Sherry has been acclaimed by so many critics and viewers that all I need add is the recommendation - If you have not already seen this film, find a copy of the DVD as soon as you can.7 Stars