Movie Review: Sherrybaby (2006)

I just finished watching Sherrybaby, an indie drama where Maggie Gyllenhaal shows some nudity, and, more importantly, a very raw and powerful performance.

Gyllenhaal, who seems to always be overshadowed by her brother (though just barely), once again shows that she is an extremely talented actress. Here, she plays a young woman recently released from prison after a long stint for stealing and drug use. Looking to get her life back on track, she lands a decent job but discovers that her daughter has been "adopted" by her brother and his wife. As tensions increase within her family, she finds herself struggling to stay clean and avoid breaking parole.

Read the full Sherrybaby movie review here.

Movie Review: Sherrybaby

I just finished watching Sherrybaby, an indie drama where Maggie Gyllenhaal shows some nudity, and, more importantly, a very raw and powerful performance.

Gyllenhaal, who seems to always be overshadowed by her brother (though just barely), once again shows that she is an extremely talented actress. Here, she plays a young woman recently released from prison after a long stint for stealing and drug use. Looking to get her life back on track, she lands a decent job but discovers that her daughter has been "adopted" by her brother and his wife. As tensions increase within her family, she finds herself struggling to stay clean and avoid breaking parole.

The talented actress is the star of the show, as she shows great range in exploring the positives and negatives of any troubled person. Her performance alone makes Sherrybaby worth it, though the movie itself, written and directed by Laurie Collyer, is surprisingly good as well. A drama that strikes the right chords without much if any melodrama, Sherrybaby is a captivating tale of a woman who hinges on the verge of collapse but who somehow always manages to stay afloat. Will she fold at the end, or will she prevail? Collyer keeps you guessing.

Sherrybaby is a nice little drama with one great performance. The supporting cast isn't anything to scream about, except for the surprisingly different Danny Trejo, but Maggie Gyllenhaal is at her very best here.

New The Dark Knight photo, plus a teaser trailer

Thanks to Comic-Con (I really have to go next year, don't I?), all kinds of goodies are unleashing themselves, and the latest is some new stuff from The Dark Knight camp. The teaser trailer is nothing to scream about, but it does set the stage for what's to come. There's no footage involved... just a slowly emerging Batman logo with blue rays of light behind it. The highlight of the teaser, though, is the dialogue, which is quite impressive... and you get to hear Heath Ledger as The Joker, and he sounds surprisingly like Jack Nicholson, only creepier and more psychotic.

All in all, it's a good teaser, though it would have been cool to have a brief shot of The Joker in action. In the mean time, though, we get another picture, this time of The Joker taking on Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal).

Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes in The Dark Knight

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Maggie Gyllenhaal is set to join the all-star cast of The Dark Knight for Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures.

She'll play D.A. Rachel Dawes, the love interest to Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale), replacing Katie Holmes from Batman Begins. Christopher Nolan returns as director, along with actors Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Gary Oldman; Heath Ledger is the Joker, while Aaron Eckhart will play D.A. Harvey Dent, also known as the villainous Two-Face.

Jonathan Nolan wrote the script for The Dark Knight, which is scheduled to begin shooting in April for a 2008 release.

The Dark Knight movie info