Sound a little bit TV movie of the week? Then you’re not counting upon the considerable force of the film’s leading lady. Here, Gyllenhaal gives a career-best performance as Sherry Swanson, dragging the film single-handedly into a feature of real note. It’s an award-worthy turn, and one that casting directors would be well advised to take note of.

The rest of Sherrybaby, inevitably, can’t live up to Gyllenhaal’s standards, but it has quite a go. Writer-director Laurie Collyer makes a sound feature film debut (basing it loosely around the experiences of one of her friends), delivering an emotional flick with genuine depth and feeling to it. Layering in the various obstacles that sit in Sherry’s way, her script gives her lead actress plenty to get her teeth into, and the movie gels well as a result.

Running to just over an hour and a half, Sherrybaby is wise too not to outstay its welcome. Because as it stands, when the end credits role, you’ll have been treated to one of the best performances by a Hollywood actress in leading times, and a tight, memorable drama too. --Jon Foster

Synopsis
Maggie Gyllenhaal is mesmerizing as a recovering addict in writer-director Laurie Collyer's feature-length fiction-film debut, SHERRYBABY. Gyllenhaal stars as Sherry Swanson, a troubled woman who has just been released from prison, where she spent three years for robbery to support her heroin addiction. Determined to regain control of her life, she moves into a halfway house and starts looking for a job, being carefully watched by her tough parole officer (Giancarlo Esposito). At an AA meeting, she is drawn to Dean Walker (Danny Trejo), a gritty older man who befriends her--but his ties to her dangerous past life threaten to pull her back in. Sherry's main desire is to re-establish a relationship with her young daughter, Alexis (Ryan Simpkins), who is being raised by Sherry's brother, Bobby (Brad William Henke), and his wife, Lynnette (Bridget Barkan)--but Lynnette doesn't trust Sherry, wanting to keep Alexis for her own. As Sherry struggles to get back on track, she plays by her own rules, with drugs and a return to prison waiting just around the corner. Gyllenhaal gives a raw, bare, powerful performance as the embattled and desperate Sherry, who will do almost anything to regain her daughter's love. Loosely based on the story of one of Collyer's closest childhood friends, SHERRYBABY, which got its start in the Sundance Filmmaker's Lab, is an emotional rollercoaster of a movie, with realistic characters, an excellent cast, and plenty of surprising turns.