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SHERRYBABY (2006) (***)

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After you watch this film, you’ll wish there were a better way for the Academy to choose who gets nominated for the acting Oscars. Maggie Gyllenhaal (WORLD TRADE CENTER) elevates a fairly straight-forward drug drama to another level.

Sherry Swanson (Gyllenhaal) has just been released from prison where she was serving time for theft, which she committed to buy drugs. She moves into a halfway house and quickly gets in contact with her brother Bobby (Brad William Henke, ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW), who has been taking care of her young daughter Alexis (Ryan Simpkins, TV’s WONDER SHOWZEN). Bobby’s wife, Lynette (Bridget Barkan), who has become very close to Alexis, is reluctant to let recovering addict Sherry jump right back into her daughter’s life. Other key characters include Sherry’s dad (Sam Bottoms, THE OUTLAW JOSIE WALES), Sherry’s tough parole officer Hernandez (Giancarlo Esposito, DO THE RIGHT THING) and Dean Walker (Danny Trejo, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN), who Sherry meets at AA.

Gyllenhaal gives such a brave performance. Transforming into the character, she goes for broke at every moment. She allows herself to look completely foolish, just as the character would act. One scene truly sticks out in my mind when I think about her performance and it’s a scene where the family is having dinner. Sherry springs up and wants to sing a song, desperately trying to gain the attention of her father and daughter. Then she struggles through The Bangles’ “Eternal Flame,” which if you know the song is fairly inappropriate to sing to your little daughter. In the hands of a lesser performer, the scene could have been total camp or full of irony. In the hands of Gyllenhaal, it’s painfully poignant, awkward and sad all at the same time.

Writer/director Laurie Collyer does exactly what the material calls for — simply present Sherry’s story and stay out of the way of the performers. In addition to Gyllenhaal, I enjoyed the tender performance of Trejo, who is a far better actor than some of his roles would seem to show. Moreover, I liked how Collyer revealed Sherry’s past in subtle moments that tell a lot and are not dwelled on. She knows that the story isn’t about Sherry’s past, but how Sherry must take control of her future.

With outstanding work in this film as well as WORLD TRADE CENTER, the fact that Gyllenhaal is not an Oscar nominee this year is another one to add to the Academy’s list of “what were they thinking” mistakes. Gyllenhaal is a phenomenal performer. She carries this film with pure commitment to her part. She makes Sherry layered and believable. We care about Sherry not because we are manipulated to, but because we feel that she is a human being.

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Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks