Maggie Gyllenhaal demonstrates her range as an actress in the little-known but critically acclaimed Sherrybaby. Gyllenhaal is a household name by now, though she hasn’t been in too many blockbuster movies. In fact, as of 2011, her only film that earned more than $75 million at the box office was The Dark Knight, which would have made its money regardless of whether she had been in it. This statement doesn’t mean to take anything away from Gyllenhaal. She is a very talented actress and will be a Hollywood A-lister for the next decade and more. However, in the movies I have seen her in thus far (namely Stranger Than Fiction, Crazy Heart, The Dark Knight), I’ve seen her play the same sweet girl next store who is likable, urns heads, and puts the needs of others before her. There’s always a fear that if an actor repeatedly plays the same character, she will be typecast and find it difficult to break that mold. Seeing Gyllenhaal star as the lead character in Sherrybaby showed me that she has the range and won’t allow herself to get pigeonholed into that same sweet character we’re accustomed to seeing her in.
In Laurie Collyer’s directorial debut, she takes on the very real problem of addiction. More importantly, Collyer dives into how one person’s addiction can affect the lives of so many. In this movie, we are first introduced to Sherry (Gyllenhaal) on her release from prison after serving a three-year sentence for some robbery. Addicted to heroin from age 16-22, she tells us that she stole from people to pay for drugs during the movie. Sherry spends her first night in a halfway house but shows little interest in getting to know anybody there. She has bi-weekly meetings with her parole officer, and she’s required to attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings. She needed to find work. However, her only goal is to get her six-year-old daughter Alexis back.
Sherry is not your wholesome young woman. She is dirty, uses her good looks to get her way with men, and is conniving. Sherry lies without feeling remorse. She insults people so that she feels better about herself. Sherry is a very unlikeable person at times. At other times, she is more likable, like when interacting with her daughter or some inner-city kids that she is helping supervise with her part-time job. At times, she is truthful when it would be much easier to lie. We are left believing that she genuinely wants to be a better person, but she isn’t sure if she truly can. And even if she can believe she is capable of more, she’s unsure how to do it.
Reentering her daughter’s life has other obstacles as well. Alexis has been living with Sherry’s brother Bobby (Brad William Henke – North Country, Hollywoodland), and his wife Lynette (Bridget Bauple has raised Alexis as their own for the previous three years and is reluctant, at best, to allow Sherry back in so quickly. Bobby is far more sympathetic than Lynette. Lynette tells Alexis after Sherry’s first visit to call her by her first name rather than call her Mommy. It’s hard to see whether Lynette’s motives are more for Alexis’s benefit than hers. Bobby wants to allow Sherry back into Alexis’s life slowly but also wants to support his wife 100%. Henke gives a spirited performance as Sherry’s brother. Bobby is quiet, laid back, and prefers avoiding things rather than involving himself. However, he’s forced to make tough decisions he’d instead not make. He’s a good man, and it’s a rewarding experience watching him try to balance what is best for everyone. I especially liked his performance in this movie because I only saw Henke on screen as a mean hillbilly meth addict in the television show Justified. His conflicted emotions add to the realism of the story. The relatively unknown Barkan is well-cast, too. She provides just enough kindness to have us sympathize with her. Most of us can only imagine raising a young child for three years as our own, only to have her drug-addicted mother swoop back into her life and take everything away. We watch Lynette goEvene process, and it’s sad. What’s even more difficult is watching poor Alexis being pulled in every direction.
The performances in this movie are excellent. Gyllenhaal is outstanding as the lead. She is sweet one minute and not so friendly the next. Sherry can go from composed and happy to irritable and pissed off with the flick of a switch. She seems committed to doing whatever possible to get her daughter back one day but then comes to the bitter reality that kicking her drug habit is much more complicated than she predicted. She is a woman who wears her emotions on her sleeves and doesn’t beat around the bush. The supporting performances were authentic, too. In addition to Bobby and Lynette, there were quality performances by her father, her parole officer, and a man she met at Narcotics Anonymous, with whom she struck up a relationship.
Check it out on Netflix if you’re a fan of Gyllenhaal or if you want to see her in a role she hasn’t been in before and might not be in again. It’s a good watch.
Plot 8/10
Character Development 8.5/10
Character Chemistry7.5/10
Acting 9.5/10
Screenplay 7.5/10
Directing 8.5/10
Cinematography 7.5/10
Sound 6.5/10
Hook and Reel 7/10
Universal Relevance 8.5/10
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