To me, this movie is perfection.

The greatest movie ever made..!

From my favorite movies..

A lot of fun.

I decided to watch this movie, not only because of the main protagonist (Maggie Gyllenhaal) but also because of the theme, from which I assumed that the film has to do with a very sensitive issue- not so much with drug addiction and get into society again, but more importantly, trying to reunite with your own child and build trust. Rejection from your own family, more specific from your own child is one of the worst things that can happen to a parent, it seems an unending torture, especially when the child is too young to understand completely and sometimes can be easily confused with what is going on.It is a sad story, about an ex-drug addict who after some time in prison gets back in town, clean and willing to stay that way, dedicate herself to her one and only daughter. There are some important things that I want to say in this review and that actually are the reasons why this movie must not mislead you into being sad or emotional about the poor mother that life tore her apart.When the movie ended, I was emotionally affected from the whole story, and from Gyllenhaal's acting. There is no doubt that she masterfully moved the audience with her performance. But... If someone take a more careful look in every frame of the film, he will notice that in the second half of the movie there is a scene that "explains" all they why's of the situations.Why Sherry did drugs when she was young? Why Sherry was a bit aggressive with other people (sometimes even with her own daughter)? Why Sherry lost control of everything and went to jail? Before that specific scene, when Sherry goes at her father's house where she founds her father, her brother, her brother's wife and her little girl throwing a birthday party for her daughter, there is another scene when, for the first time after she's out of jail, her father comes for a visit in her brother's house. She is so happy to see him, extremely happy. She hugs him, she kisses him in the mouth, she tries to get his attention with laughing and saying or doing crazy things, jump on the couch or sing in the dinner table. Plus, her father is re-married with another woman and she is there also.It was strange indeed, and it might have caught viewer's attention, but with the scene in the end, it all makes sense after all. This scene uncovers the truth to the audience and directs us to believe that the reason why Sherry is in this terrible path, is the relationship with his own father, that he assaulted her sexually (obviously from a young age, we understand that from the comfort he has to touch her breasts in his son's house) and that he destroyed her life. The End.So, the (female) director of this movie, wants to reproduce a certain meaning of the figure of the father, the silence of his son while he is watching his own father sexually harass his daughter and lead the viewer to a consistent pattern, the one which family is violent to the children, a real catastrophe. It is very easy to do so, it is very easy to manipulate the thoughts and the unconscious of the viewer to this result. Why? Because the role of the father in the family hardly exists, we only see him from a distance, there are no further explanations or scenes that analyze his character or his relationship with his daughter. The scene of the sexual assault is a raw, crude resort.Very bad things have happened to Sherry and we know who we have to blame for it. When she sees her father for the first time she is so happy, she does not seem to bother at all with his presence or his behavior. And when he finally is alone with her and touch her she runs far away and she needs desperately her dose. Someone might not think of this but, it is a cheap solution to put the blame on one of her family members and use the pattern that in our days is so usual in everyday life.

Sherry Swanson (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a recovering addict after serving prison time. She is placed in a halfway house and desperate to reconnect with her daughter who is living with her brother's family. She is perfectly willing to exchange sex for favors. She befriends Dean Walker (Danny Trejo) from the recovery meeting who recognizes her as a stripper. There is hostilities at the halfway house and she stays at her brother's home. It doesn't go well and she starts using again. Parole Officer Hernandez (Giancarlo Esposito) threatens her with prison time if she doesn't go back to treatment.Maggie Gyllenhaal is great but Sherry is not terribly likable. She's a self-destructive addict who is a danger to her daughter. It's not until the bitter end that her self-obsessed destruction clears up. It would be better for her to build some more sympathy early on. It is still a devastating performance.

No mistake, some people may find 'Sherrybaby' a little difficult to watch. But then it's designed that way. It covers many difficult subjects, but manages not to be gratuitous in the process. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays the titular character, Sherry Swanson, who is released from prison and sets about trying to get her life back together and patch things up with the young daughter she lost.However, Sherry has a few personal demons that won't seem to let her go entirely straight. For a start, she's promiscuous, craves hard drugs and isn't slow to use her fists if she thinks she will. All in all this would normally make any 'lead character' pretty unlikable. However, I think most people will still root for Sherry. Because behind all that is a deeply troubled soul who, in her heart, is trying to do good, only her past just won't seem to let her.Plus Gyllenhaal plays the part with just enough balance to show Sherry's bad and good qualities. She's certainly no 'traditional' lead character, but her frailties are there for all to see – and don't we all have some of those? As the story progresses, we learn more about her past and, even though it's not spelt out to us, can put together what made her that way.Sherrybaby is worth seeing if you enjoy poignant film-making that really gets you to root for a damaged character and makes you want to see them succeed despite the odds.I won't go into too many plot points, as I don't want to give too much away, but, as I said earlier, it does deal with numerous 'hard-hitting' topics. Just because you don't see too much (graphically) doesn't mean that it's not lurking beneath the surface.Gyllenhaal didn't get an Oscar nod for her performance, but that doesn't mean her portrayal wasn't Oscar-worthy.

An emotionally stunted ex-convict whose recent release from prison finds her attempting to form a relationship with her young daughter finds that redemption doesn't come easy in this emotional family drama,Sherrybaby. It is the feature debut of award-winning documentary filmmaker Laurie Collyer. The movie stars Maggie Gyllenhaal in the title role together with Brad William Henke,Sam Bottoms,Kate Burton,Giancarlo Esposito and Danny Trejo.When Sherry Swanson was sentenced to three years in prison on a drug- related robbery conviction at the age of 22, she had just given birth to a daughter named Alexis. Placed in the care of Sherry's brother, Bobby, and sister-in-law, Lynette, while her mother was behind bars, young Alexis has grown into an affectionate young girl eager to reconnect with the mother she has never met. Though Sherry at first seems determined to stay on the straight and narrow, increasingly infrequent visits to Alexis and a troubling revelation about her family past soon begin to lead the protective Lynette to take a stand in protecting the vulnerable youngster. Later, when compassionate 12-step veteran Dean makes an effort to help Sherry become the mother she longs to be, the troubled ex-con is faced with the choice of truly living up to her word or potentially losing her daughter forever.This movie which is based on a true story, explodes with manic energy keeps you riveted through parts that might otherwise be difficult to watch.It is itself is a collection of emotional highs and mostly lows for Maggie Gyllenhaal, who elevates it all far above the slim story as she presents us with an indelible character study that will be seared into our minds for a long time to come and makes us care for her character after she gives a tour de force performance in the title role.Overall,it is a disturbing film that should not be missed.