Sherrybaby

2006

Action / Drama

22
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 76% · 66 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 57% · 25K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.6/10 10 12046 12K

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Plot summary

After serving time in prison, former drug addict Sherry Swanson returns home to reclaim her young daughter from family members who have been raising the child. Sherry's family, especially her sister-in-law, doubt Sherry's ability to be a good mother, and Sherry finds her resolve to stay clean slowly weakening.


Uploaded by: OTTO

Director

Top cast

Danny Trejo as Dean Walker
Giancarlo Esposito as Parole Officer Hernandez
Maggie Gyllenhaal as Sherry Swanson
Rio Hackford as Andy Kelly
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
753.85 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
R
23.976 fps
1 hr 36 min
Seeds 1
1.44 GB
1920*1080
English 2.0
R
23.976 fps
1 hr 36 min
Seeds 4

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by gradyharp 10 / 10

The Plight of the Addict

Laurie Collyer both wrote and directed this very fine little film that examines the world in which addicted people live, even after they have 'paid their debt to society' by being imprisoned. She does not play to the sympathy of the audience: she rather empathizes with one woman's plight in her struggle to gain control of a life she has never been able to successfully assemble.

Sherry Swanson (a brilliant tour de force by Maggie Gyllenhaal) has been in prison for robbery, drug possession and heroin addiction for several years and as the film opens she is released to her hometown in New Jersey where she is assigned a parole officer (Giancarlo Esposito) and a 'safe haven' home. She longs to see her five-year-old daughter Alexis (Ryan Simpkins) whom she barely knows and who has been living with her brother Bobby (the excellent Brad William Henke) and his wife Lynette (Bridget Barkan). After encountering much prejudice and abuse heaped on ex-cons looking for work, Sherry manages to find a job working with kids and tries desperately to re-connect with Alexis but is rebuffed by Lynette and warned by Bobby that should she bring drugs in the house he will send her back to prison.

Sherry stumbles through her out-of-prison existence, connecting with old friends at an AA meeting, having a fling with her old flame Dean (Danny Trejo), attending a birthday party for Alexis given at her parents home where her father (Sam Bottoms) comforts her in a sexually intrusive way, and struggling with her roommates until she moves out on her own. She aches from not belonging, from the fact that her life on the 'outside' is as much a prison as on the 'inside', and she returns to drugs. Given an ultimatum by her parole officer she finally thinks she can put her life back together, but a planned outing with daughter Alexis forces Sherry to face the fact that she is not capable of the skills of mothering and she is able finally to ask for help from her caring brother.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is Sherry with every fiber of her being. It is a performance worthy of top honors. The beauty of the film is the fact that it does not opt for Hollywood happy endings: it merely stops with many questions unanswered - as is the case in life with people who suffer the agonies of addiction. It is beautifully acted and filmed and it deserves the attention of not only lovers of fine film, but also people who want to try to understand the horrors of drug addiction in a society unprepared to cope with it. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp

Reviewed by moonspinner55 6 / 10

Raw, painful character study

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays recently-paroled addict Sherry Swanson, an East Coast single mom struggling to stay clean and get to know her estranged pre-teen daughter whose been living with Sherry's brother. Gyllenhaal runs the risk of being completely unlikable playing this hard-shelled woman, one with a short fuse and no concept of how to live a straight life (to get her way, she uses her body); however, the role is a dream for a dramatic actress, and Gyllenhaal goes way out on a limb with her characterization. It is a brave, blistering acting turn, with nary a false note, and while the plot elements don't quite bloom and some sequences feel disappointingly aimless, Maggie Gyllenhaal is remarkably consistent, scary, ridiculously tough and straightforward, and so honest that her thoughts come out unedited--she's a human cliffhanger. The movie is really about dealing with your anger and your shame, and it's directed toward a very satisfying finish, but that doesn't make many painful scenes any easier to watch. When some people screw up, they tend to do it in full view of the world; this is Sherry Swanson--and while she's angry and hurt and frustrated, writer-director Laurie Collyer is careful not to alienate us from Sherry's feelings. We share in them--without sentimentality--and the returns are worthy but tough to shake off. **1/2 from ****

Reviewed by jboothmillard 6 / 10

SherryBaby

Just like Secretary before it, this is provocative independent film with some very sexy moments, and all done by the same leading actress. Basically twenty-something Sherry Swanson (Golden Globe nominated Maggie Gyllenhaal) has served a three year prison sentence for a theft charge, she is also a recovering heroin addict, and eager to change she goes on parole and enters the Genesis House, a halfway house for other female paroled women. She uses sex most of the time to get what she wants, and she does it on house manager Andy Kelly (Rio Hackford), and also oral on her job placement counsellor to get a job working in children day care. Wanting to reunite with her daughter Alexis Parks (Ryan Simpkins), she is fighting the urge to start using again, but fellow AA member Dean Walker (Danny Trejo) knows how she is feeling and tries to help her get through it. Alexis's carers, Sherry's sister Bobby (Brad William Henke) and sister-in-law Lynette (Bridget Barkan) don't believe that Sherry can make any real change, they even insist that Alexis calls her be her real name, and their doubts are proved when Sherry dabbles in some heroin again. She knows this will ruin her chances to see Alexis, and she decides to be honest and admit to it, but her only options to change are becoming inpatient or going back to prison. Sherry manages to get Bobby to agree to spend some time with Alexis, and she takes her to lunch, only to scare her with some shouting, making her wet her pants, and the film ends with Sherry driving away, presumably going to get detox. Also starring Giancarlo Esposito as Parole Officer Hernandez, Sam Bottoms as Bob Swanson Sr., Kate Burton as Marcia Swanson and Michelle Hurst as Dorothy Washington. Gyllenhaal is very naturalist and fantastic in the leading performance, she is the whole reason to watch this very affective drama with some harrowing subjects. Good!

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