SherryBaby (2006)

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In this powerful, unflinching drama, Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Sherry Swanson, who has just finished three years inside on drugs charges. Determined to go straight and stay clean for the sake of her eight-year-old daughter Alexis (Ryan Simpkins), she has to cope with a halfway house that isn't much better than prison and an uncaring parole officer. But what makes it hardest is the close relationship Alexis has built up with her brother Bobby (Brad William Henke) and his wife Lynette (Bridget Barkan) who have been caring for Alexis while Sherry was inside.

Laurie Collyer wrote and directed the film. Her debut feature, it was Sundance-nominated. While it may not have the most original of plots, what is does have is a stand-out performance from Gyllenhaal which saw her Golden Globe-nominated. As Sherry's background is revealed, so her character becomes more complex, Gyllenhaal's performance is, as one critic wrote, "so visceral that it compels attention... from the first frame in Sherrybaby, Maggie Gyllenhaal is Sherry and the illusion never dissipates".

Highly recommended.

SherryBaby is a Film programme that first aired in 2006 and has been rated 15.

SherryBaby is a 3 star programme.

Next Show Times

• United Kingdom
• United States

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