Sherrybaby

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Sherrybaby
Sherrybaby.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Laurie Collyer
Written byLaurie Collyer
Produced by Marc Turtletaub
Lemore Syvan
Starring Maggie Gyllenhaal
Brad William Henke
Sam Bottoms
Kate Burton
Giancarlo Esposito
Danny Trejo
CinematographyRussell Lee Fine
Edited byCurtiss Clayton
Joe Landauer
Music by Jack Livesey
Production
companies
Distributed by IFC Films
Release date
  • September 8, 2006 (2006-09-08)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2 million
Box office$622,806 [1]

Sherrybaby is a 2006 American drama film written and directed by Laurie Collyer. Screened at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2006, the film received a limited release in the United States on September 8, 2006.

Contents

Plot

The story takes place in New Jersey. Sherry Swanson (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a young woman who has recently been released from prison and is recovering from a heroin addiction, is trying to rebuild her life on the outside. Above all, she wants to repair her relationship with her young daughter, but finds the challenges more daunting than she had expected. Her daughter barely recognizes her and no longer calls her "mommy", the halfway house where she lives has a curfew that interferes with her ability to visit her family, and her relationship with her family has become tense and strained and she often tends to act childlike at times.

In between trips to visit her daughter and her job at a youth center, Sherry attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in an effort to beat back her addiction to heroin. She strikes up a relationship with Dean (Danny Trejo), a fellow addict she meets at Alcoholics Anonymous. The stresses of her damaged relationships with her family, satisfying her parole officer, and finding a way to reconnect with her daughter soon prove overwhelming. Sherry soon starts drinking and using drugs again, putting her parole at risk. Struggling to maintain a grip on her life, Sherry finally breaks down and admits to her brother that she knows she needs help.

Cast

Reception

Sherrybaby received generally positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 75% of 67 critics gave the film a positive review. The site's consensus is that "Maggie Gyllenhaal delivers [a] riveting performance as a recovering drug addict in a depressing and entirely believable movie." [2] Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a "generally favorable" average score of 66, based on 18 reviews. [3] Entertainment Weekly praised the film as "emotionally arresting" and "authentic and moving", and describes Gyllenhaal as "such a miracle of an actress that she makes you respond to the innocence of Sherry's desperate, selfish destruction." [4] The Christian Science Monitor also gave a positive review of the film, complimenting Collyer's "vivid eye for detail and the small, telling human moments that make a movie resonate with audiences". [5]

Awards and nominations

YearCeremonyCategoryRecipientsResult
2006 11th Satellite Awards Best Actress - Drama Maggie Gyllenhaal Nominated
64th Golden Globe Awards Best Actress - Drama Maggie Gyllenhaal Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2006 Best Actress - Drama Maggie Gyllenhaal Nominated
Gotham Awards Breakthrough Director Laurie Collyer Nominated
41st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Crystal Globe (Grand Prix)SherrybabyWon
Best Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal Won
London Film Critics' Circle Actress of the Year Maggie Gyllenhaal Nominated
Milan International Film Festival Best Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal Won
Stockholm International Film Festival Best FilmSherrybabyWon
Best Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal Won
Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize - DramaticSherrybabyNominated

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References

  1. Sherrybaby at Box Office Mojo
  2. "Sherrybaby (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  3. "SherryBaby". Metacritic. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  4. Gleiberman, Owen (September 6, 2006). "Sherrybaby". Entertainment Weekly. Movie Review. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
  5. Rainer, Peter (September 9, 2008). "Sherrybaby': emotional downpour". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2009-01-21.