Okay, Kids...It’s Story Time
Once upon a time, not long ago...last week to be specific...I was on a very crowded flight home from Las Vegas, Nevada.
I was near the back of the plane, seated next to a rather hung over older man. I engaged in the minimum amount of small talk with him. I had assumed our “single serving friendship” (to quote Fight Club) had ended soon enough. At the last minute, an even more hung over but very attractive blonde lady rushed to sit between us.
Very quickly, it became obvious that she just wanted to talk. It didn’t particularly matter who she blabbed at. The older guy, despite being married, was eager. He started preaching to her about the love of Jesus. In the same breath, he handed her a business card and said: “Call me.”
So, very quickly, we both got her life story...
She was a recovering (?) alcoholic with a six year old daughter. Her much older husband had dumped her recently because she just couldn’t stop drinking. She had gone to Vegas with her AA friends (yes, the logic there escaped me too).
Oh, but there was more! She had been to Jail for DWI...she had almost died from liver infection in her twenties. She had even gone to the same high school I had. She was exactly two years older than me. (Liver infection and jail have yet to be on my resume though.)
Keep in mind that we weren’t the only ones to bear witness to this story. The entire back half of the plane was probably listening with a mixture of fascination and horror.
Here’s the crucial fact: This was a highly elaborate performance. She obviously had told these stories several times over. We weren’t privileged enough for a confession. The strangers on the plane were just a captive audience.
So what did I think about this? “Dear lord, this is a train wreck...” I couldn’t listen to her story without feeling saddened. Mostly though, I felt for the people that were a lot more intimately involved in her life. This wasn’t judgmental thinking at all. It was just honest.
The classic line is: “I hope you get the help you need.” I didn’t say that to her, but it crossed my mind.
I found myself rooting for her, despite the fact I knew it was sort of a lost cause.
So What Does This Have to do With Sherrybaby (2006)?
A few nights later I pulled Sherrybaby out of the pile of cheap DVDs. The woman that Maggie Gyllenhaal portrays in this film is the fictional version of my travel buddy.
What are the similarities?
Okay...
Gyllenhaal’s Sherry is recently out of jail, and has a small child. She’s a drinker, and a druggie, and more than anything she is just plain vulnerable. This is a fact that doesn’t escape her. She uses it to manipulate men to do various favors for her (quite literally, with her promiscuity adding a very uncomfortable plot element).
She initially crashes at a half way home. That doesn’t go so well after she half way provokes a fight with another resident. (The movie has several interesting, telling scenes that don’t state anything outright. You can say that the other former egged her on, but her reaction speaks volumes about the character.)
After that, she goes to crash with her brother Bobby (Brad William Henke, who was also the sad eyed shoe salesman in Me, You, and Everyone We Know.) Bobby is clearly a good hearted, generous guy who has sincere love for his sister. What’s the problem in this situation? He’s been raising Sherry’s child with his wife, and she is very much their girl now. (To name check two other very good performances: Ryan Simpkins gives a very natural performance as Sherry’s daughter Alexis. Bridget Barkan creates some real sympathy for Bobby’s wife Lynette.)
What’s the ray of hope? Sherry at least has the good sense to go to a NA/AA meeting led by Dean (yes that is Machete’s Danny Trejo). Dean is a good guy, who genuinely wants to help Sherry clean up. Yes, he sleeps with her (and who doesn’t?). Still, you get the sense that their relationship could work.
What else happens? Other stuff, honestly. This is a very quiet, observant film. The plot isn’t structured in a literal sense. Most of the enjoyment comes from watching smallish scenes unravel to new discoveries.
I’ve read some other reviews that fault Sherrybaby for falling into “Lifetime” territory. Frankly, I find that an unfair criticism. I like to credit myself with being fairly intuitive about where a movie is going. This one surprised me. The conclusion, while ambiguous in many ways, is hopeful without being forced into a “happy ending.”
So does Sherrybaby succeed as a true “loser” movie?
When I first started writing about anti-heroes, I had one inflexible rule: Have I been coaxed into sympathy for this fucking loser lead character?
What’s the answer in this case?
Remember my travel friend? After hearing her long rant, I did sympathize with her. There was absolutely nothing I could do other than listen. Still, I couldn’t help wondering what was going to happen. Where was her life going to go? She had me (and the rest of the impromptu audience) hooked.
Sherrybaby works in the same way. Most of that credit goes to Gyllenhaal. Her stock and trade as an actress (when she is well used) is to create this kind of vulnerable blank slate of a character. “The lost little girl” who is rapidly becoming too old for that particular trap. Her performance in Secretary was in the same ballpark. You liked that woman, even if you didn’t understand why she needed to be chained and shackled.
As good as Gyllenhaal is, she threatens to over shadow writer/director Laurie Coyller. Her approach to both the script and direction is everything in this case. The fact that she started off as a documentarian makes total sense. She has well honed observational skills that she draws on here.
This is a good, small movie that’s worth seeking out.
I just wish I could have told them not to use that generic, “sensitive” acoustic guitar soundtrack.
I just wish I could have told them not to use that generic, “sensitive” acoustic guitar soundtrack.
