Sherrybaby

Gritty, 'real life' dramas are a strange form of entertainment as there is voyeuristic feeling to them, but given the popularity of reality TV and docu-soaps it is obviously a genre that attracts audiences. Of course the advantage of dramatised versions is they real actors and scriptwriters to craft the story and develop some sort of resolution, and even empathy for the characters, whereas with 'reality' shows they are generally about people you don't really care about.


Sherrybaby is the story of Sherry Swanson (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who has just been released from three years in prison for a drug-related robbery. She has come out of jail positive about her future and wanting to become a proper mother to her young daughter, who has been cared for by her brother and his wife. Unfortunately she has to live in a half-way house, deal with a brutal parole officer and find a job that won't undermine her newfound self-confidence, and she struggles to cope with the rules imposed by different strata of society she is inhabiting, which leads her to making some wrong decisions.


Gyllenhaal doesn't play the role for sympathy but you are on her side throughout, even when she makes obvious mistakes. She plays it both tough and vulnerable, and no matter how hard she tries to do the right thing she ends up being the victim. This is very much her film and the best reason for seeing it.

The whole film is shot in a very neutral way, neither glossy nor gritty, so it gives it an almost documentary feel but still retaining a fictional edge. The ending is a bit unclear and ambiguous but does not detract from the quality of what came before.