Review of Sherrybaby (2006) by Dawdlingpoet — 22 Nov 2021

The movie has quite a 'dark' feel to it, obviously due to the nature of it story wise but also the lighting is dim throughout (so its not a great idea to watch it on a particularly sunny afternoon!), this reminded me of the movies of the 1980s that often featured very dark lighting throughout.

The movie did feel quite gritty and realistic, is isn't overly 'Hollywood' at all, with a fairy tale type ending, I didn't think that it was particularly predictable or formulaic really, although, to be fair, it isn't the sort of movie that I've seen many examples of, I suppose. The scenes between Sherry and her estranged daughter Alexis were well acted and left me unsure how to feel really, you can tell that Sherry clearly wants to regain her relationship with her daughter, understandably enough and as a supposedly reformed character she starts off well, telling others and probably in part to remind herself that she is clean and wanting to turn over a new leaf so to speak but while her daughter Alexis is at first happy to see her again, it doesn't last too long and you can really see her hesitation due to the time spent apart and certain situations that ensure, given all that the viewer knows, I found it hard to know who's side to be on, almost. It is a movie that makes you think and there are some scenes of a graphic nature (sexual scenes and possibly one or two violent scenes), so its not for the overly squeamish I'd say but given the plot, thats to be expected. There aren't really any graphic scenes of drug use in it, which may come as a surprise but I don't really remember any, so thats perhaps a plus, I have to say I hate to see needles so that would have very much put me off! but anyway, I think really the movie is more about the flaws of Sherry and how she reacts to being given this chance to start over again, thinking things may go a particular way but then having to adjust to the circumstances that she finds both herself and Alexis in.

I found her character quite an interesting one and as the movie continues, you see more characters coming forward and trying to help her, with varied responses and leading to us finding out more about her. Obviously she is quite a flawed character and its difficult for her brother who wants to try and help her, while he's been caring for Alexis and isn't sure whats best for both of them, giving their different situations. What Sherry does in order to try and land her dream job and such like again brings home the other side to her as well and it could well leave you trying to decide quite what to make of this character, who it seems is in one hand quite desperate, while also perhaps expecting too much in another sense as well.

Back to the movie itself and I thought that the story did seem quite good and the acting was also good. Maggie plays Sherry well, as I'd expected, she has this quite aggressive and sort of worn out look about herself in this role, if that makes sense(?) which fits the character. She does give quite a decent emotional performance in it and I also particularly thought that the actress who played Alexis, Ryan Simpkins, also gave a particularly good performance, the two of them seemed to connect well on screen and I thought they both did well in portraying their characters.

Yes, I would recommend it. I think that its a pretty realistic (from what I know) and gritty movie that has good character development, it makes you think and it has decent performances throughout, so if this is a movie that appeals to you then I would recommend it. One last comment which is partly related to recommending it would be that I did think that this movie was quite gritty and graphic, there is some pretty heavy (strong) language at one point and nudity shown (Sherry is topless on a couple of occasions) so I was fairly surprised to see it was given a 15 rating, rather than an 18 rating really (perhaps that shows what a sheltered life I live?!) and I would be cautious of recommending this movie to younger teenagers or anyone under about 16 or 17 at least.