Sherrybaby Critic Reviews

Maggie Gyllenhaal is such a miracle of an actress that she makes you respond to the innocence of Sherry's desperate, selfish destruction.Read the full review

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 the full review

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 the full review

Theirs is a well-worn story that may not need to be told, but they do tell it well.Read the full review

Keeps you riveted through parts that might otherwise be difficult to watch.Read the full review

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 the full review

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 the full review

Sherrybaby is the kind of pretend-arty Sundance thing that gives indie cinema a bad name.Read the full review