Review of Sherrybaby (2006) by Claudia P — 25 Dec 2007
A tough and realistic story that works to pull the viewer all over the place with emotions, to see if you can sympathize with Sherry Swanson (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal). Who adds so much to her acting of her portrayal of the young, heroin addict out of jail wishing to change her life and care for her daughter.
We see her as a very aggressive and promiscuous women. This is all a part of her self destructive pattern, she has built to defend herself. She knows what she has to do now as she is on parole, but she goes against it. As they push her hard to do the right thing, to prove herself to authorities and her family. She does clash with her hard nose Parole officer but is left in a humble and thankful state without having to prostitute herself. As she is exploited sexually by some people employed to help her. She is some how caught in a trap of the her life style, that we see during the film. Which has lead to her being in jail. During the film we see why her life has ended up this way, by her choice to escape an sexually abusive father. As it is played out in scene, that is like a metaphor of her life by running away and blocking out the pain by using drugs. As yet again he can't control his sick impulses when she looks to him for guidance. We see and sympathize with her paternal need for her daughter, who is now under the care of her brother and his wife. The difficulties of the sudden change for all concerned, such as the mother, who wants to just start over again and be the mother she has never been because of the addiction to drugs, the guardians, who love the child as their own and the child played Ryan Simpkins, who is wonderful as the little Alexie. She seem very naturalistic in her excitable and childish manner. It was also interesting to see Danny Trejo play a fairly straight role as all I ever see him as a 'heavy' in films. He is a face you recognize from hollywood cinema, even if you don't know the name.
A very thoughtful narrative for a rather bittersweet subject.
This review of Sherrybaby (2006) was written by Claudia P on 25 Dec 2007.
Sherrybaby has generally received positive reviews.
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