FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Sherrybaby [2006] [DVD]

Sherrybaby [2006] [DVD]
enlarge	Artist: Maggie Gyllenhaal Director: Laurie Collyer Actors: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kate Burton, Sam Bottoms, Giancarlo Esposito, Brad Henke Studio: Metrodome Category: DVD List Price: ~~£19.99~~ Buy New: £1.36 as of 21/11/2009 20:04 GMT details You Save: £18.63 (93%) New (18) Used (19) from £1.14 Seller: moniquehenderson86 Rating: 10 reviews Sales Rank: 16782 Format: PAL Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 92 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5055002553448 ASIN: B000WGUPV6 Theatrical Release Date: 2006 Release Date: January 7, 2008 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review Giving the wonderful Maggie Gyllenhaal an all-too-rare leading performance, ISherrybaby/I is a moving, well told story of a recovering addict who, ultimately, is looking to be reunited with her daughter. P 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. P The rest of ISherrybaby/I, 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. P Running to just over an hour and a half, ISherrybaby/I 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. --IJon Foster/I

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 10 1 2 Next » MAGGIE DESERVES AN OSCAR FOR THIS PERFORMANCE January 22, 2008 Mr. M. W. Lane (Manchester, UK) 5 out of 5 found this review helpful This is undoubtedly a stand out performance from maggie who plays the troubled sherry to perfection. this is not a film where there is an obvious story and does not finalise in any specific way, it is more of a journey through the life a young woman who is surviving in a relentless world in any which way she can. People must watch this film for the brilliant direction and as mentioned the star performance of the main character. As an avid film fan, I am always sceptical about the amount of rubbish films that are produced but this film really does shine through even though it has many vulgar, distressing and raw scenes. this film is worth watching just for acting alone, yet has so much more to offer. Sherrybaby January 15, 2008 Mrs. L. O'Shaughnessy (UK) 4 out of 5 found this review helpful This was an excellent film and Maggie Gyllenhal's performance was faultless. It was is very moving and emotionally raw - you find yourself totally immersed in the character of Sherry. great performance March 30, 2008 Matthew H (Manchester, UK) 0 out of 1 found this review helpful Sherrybaby is a film that relies heavily on a single performance. Ok, so maybe the word heavily is a little unfair (the film has some other plus points) but the acting of Maggie Gyllenhaal (previously excellent in films such as Secretary and Donnie Darko) is outstanding and could have easily gained her, if it was not for all the other amazing performances this year, awards' nominations. br /As some reviewers have already explained, the film is about a former drug addict who has just been released from prison (for stealing things, as Sherry explains) and is desperate to become reacquainted with her daughter. However, she does not receive too much help from her family: her brother and his wife have become too attached to the daughter (they have been looking after her during Sherry's time in prison); her father appears, at first, to be supportive but he turns out to be into sexual molestation, touching his daughter inappropriately during, what is supposed to be, a moment of comfort. Sherry does not help herself either by insisting that she can look after her daughter on her own, despite the fact that she goes to former addict's meetings, claiming that she finds it difficult not to take heroine. Eventually she has to admit to herself that she needs assistance, explaining this to her brother in the emotionally pleasing final scene of the movie, something I was not expecting. (I was expecting the mother and daughter to be reunited, after some necessary emotional torment, in a flood of tears.) br /This is a film that is not, in my opinion, worth buying. It is, however, worth renting, if for no other reason than to see Gyllenhaal's performance which is one of the best of the year. Maggie Gyllenhall excellent in a mediocre film February 4, 2008 A. Newman (UK) 3 out of 4 found this review helpful I know this film got many great reviews, and when it comes to Maggie Gyllenhall's performance I agree, it is excellent. She however completely outclasses the film she's in.The main character is fairly stereotypical - hints of the obligatory childhood of sexual abuse then falling into drugs and using sex as weapon/ defence/ comfort depending on the situation. br /I can't decide whether it would have been more interesting to not hint at a troubled childhood, after all plenty of people outside the movies use drugs/ go to prison without this, or if you are going to mention it then in this movie it felt unsatisfying as it was not fully explored or explained. br /The story arc is also predictable. Bad girl leaves prison tries to make good on her own, falls into old habits, realises she can't go it alone and needs help. br /I also had a problem with the character of the sister-in-law who is very one dimensional and exists to cause unreasonable problems for Sherry. For example the part about instructing the child not to call Sherry Mommy came across as unrealistic. She comes across as mean with no redeeming characteristics other than caring for the child. It would have been much more interesting if this character had been more developed, and she didn't need to be nasty to Sherry. This felt like a calculated ploy to place our sympathies squarely with Sherry, when in fact it is the sister-in-law who deserves them (IMHO)- she has loved and raised the child for several years to now face the possibility of losing her. br /All in all I finished the film feeling generally unsatisfied and that it could have been better. br / meh January 22, 2008 P. Davie 5 out of 9 found this review helpful Writing an unbiased review is, at best, difficult. Ultimately, if you love a film, you want to scream it from the rooftops. If you hate a film, you want to warn people away from it. That's with clear feelings. Unfortunately, I finished watching this film with mixed feelings. br / br /With all the plaudits it had received, I was expecting something raw, pithy and vital. Certainly, Gyllenhall's performance is quite interesting. Her character, however, wasn't (in my humble opinion). There were precious few moments when she was allowed to show anything but fleeting inner torment (staring into middle distance while marshalling her emotions when faced with the criticism of her sister-in-law for instance) being a stereotypically disturbed young woman (using sex as a means to an end) or flying into fits of frustrated rage. Ultimately, it is the latter of these where the film - for me at least - failed. I never once got the sense that her frustration was down to anything other than sheer selfishness. Which makes her a very unlikeable character. In fact, so unlikeable that I found myself siding with her brother and his long-suffering wife. br / br /And that's where I have the problem with writing an unbiased review. The film felt like it sat between two camps - worthy biopic about a bad girl trying to do well inspite of her predilictions, or snapshot of a tortured soul who has to battle the odds. In either case, the film is not particularly successful. The former requires an appropriate story arc - character development that leads to an understandable conclusion - in order to be satisfying. The latter requires more than just tawdry sex scenes and the odd bit of swearing plus a token, predictable, lapse into old ways (coupled with an earnest attempt at being a mother) in order to be gritty and gripping enough for it not to have any pointed direction in terms of plot. br /There are, of course, stabs at being gritty and gripping - but that's all they are. One gets the feeling that there was an attempt to make it clear that her relationships with anyone - family, employers, lovers, "friends" at the boarding house - are all unsuccessful for some deep, horrifying reason. That horrifying reason is there - it is first alluded to and then somewhat more obviously shown - but its presence is so brief that it feels like nothing more than a shallow and exploitative add-on which raises more questions than it answers. And if that was the director's intent, then I am sorry but it just feels like a cop-out not to have explored it further. br / br /In short, the film would have been much better had it been shown from the perspective of her brother and his wife (her daughter's adoptive parents). If there had been more of a focus on their rather haughty attitude to Sherry and the struggle they faced trying to do what was best for Alexis, the otherwise disappointing resolution might have made more sense. br / br /I have tried to be unbiased but the more I think about it, the more I am left baffled as to how it got such good reviews. br / Showing reviews 1-5 of 10 1 2 Next »

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