SherryBaby
IFC Films | Release Date: September 8, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Maggie Gyllenhaal is such a miracle of an actress that she makes you respond to the innocence of Sherry's desperate, selfish destruction. Read full review
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
In Gyllenhaal's all-out performance, it reminded me most of Judy Davis in "High Tide," another movie directed by a woman (Gillian Armstrong) about a misfit mother and her daughter. It has the same fierce honesty. Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Maggie Gyllenhaal cements her reputation as a gifted, if somewhat aloof, actress in Laurie Collyer's sad character piece. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDuane Byrge
Buoyed by Gyllenhaal's hauntingly complex portrait of the vivacious but addictive Sherry, the film is no mere by-the-numbers chronology of addiction. Gyllenhaal's sympathetic and charismatic performance binds us to the horror of Sherry's personal demons. Read full review
80
The New York TimesDana Stevens
What distinguishes the film from its many peers is the quality of Ms. Collyer’s writing -- which rarely reaches for obvious, melodramatic beats -- and the precision of Ms. Gyllenhaal’s performance. She treats the character neither as a case study nor as an opportunity to show off her range, but rather as a completely ordinary and therefore arrestingly complicated person. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
There is nothing flashy about these performances, but Gyllenhaal, Dillon and Gosling fully inhabit their characters, giving haunting portrayals. Watch for these names to emerge on the short list for Academy Award consideration. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Theirs is a well-worn story that may not need to be told, but they do tell it well. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Danny Trejo plays Sherry's sometime lover and friend, and he's a big asset to a small, sharp film that won't be for everyone. That's a compliment. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Keeps you riveted through parts that might otherwise be difficult to watch. Read full review
70
VarietyDennis Harvey
Gyllenhaal, in her most substantial role since "Secretary," does a fine, unshowy job of limning Sherry's faults without alienating the viewer or pleading for sympathy. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
The wonder of Sherrybaby is that we can admire Sherry's exuberance and evident love of life -- and the extraordinary actress who portrays her -- without really being sure where she's going. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Gyllenhaal turns the young ex-con into an enormously sympathetic figure, but by the end there's no denying that her need for the girl is as selfish as her addiction. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The movie is full of freshman mistakes, but Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance in the title role is the gutsiest thing she's done since her breakout in "Secretary," and she succeeds despite serious contradictions in the writing of her character. Read full review
50
Village VoiceElla Taylor
Sherrybaby is by no means a terrible film...But we know exactly where the transparent action is going from word one. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Sherrybaby is the kind of pretend-arty Sundance thing that gives indie cinema a bad name. Read full review
40
Film ThreatMark Bell
The film as a whole is vaguely entertaining but due to the unsympathetic nature of the lead character, it's hard to emotionally invest in the film beyond that feeling of watching yet another Jerry Springer-friendly family adventure. It’s simply unexceptional. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
The problem with Sherry is that, unlike Ryan Gosling's Dan in "Half Nelson," whose humanity transcends his addiction and who is still capable, no matter how uneasily, to maintain relationships with others, she is a terminally uninteresting narcissist with a bad case of arrested development. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle Smith
A movie bursting with nothingness. Read full review
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