PARK CITY -- Freedom's just another course for everything else to lose. In this story of a young woman just released from prison who tries to recon-nect with her young daughter, "freedom" entails the possibility of returning to drugs. Starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Sherrybaby" might find its widest audience on the Lifetime network.

In this hu-mane and vital story, filmmaker Laurie Collyer has captured the horror of having a life go out of control. In addicts' terms, Sherry (Gyllenhaal) has a lot of "wreckage": things she must clean up in her life caused during her drugging and jailing. When Sherry is released on parole to a halfway house, she makes a full-hearted attempt to re-enter her daughter Alexis' (Ryan Simpkins) life. Not surprisingly, the little girl is wary, and it's evident that her brother (Brad Henke) and sister-in-law (Bridget Barkan) have bonded strongly with Alexis.

It's a daunting undertaking for someone as fragile as Sherry, especially because she doesn't clearly see the fine line of her addiction. Socially and psychologically, it's survival one day at a time. Enduring the abrasions of the halfway house as well as the hostilities of her parole officer (Giancarlo Esposito), Sherry inevitably lets the pressures get to her: a sip of beer, and it's straight back down that slippery slope.

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. In true addict fashion, Gyllenhaal bounds between euphoria and despair.

Under Collyer's understanding hand, other performances are exemplary, most prominently Danny Trejo as a weather-beaten but life-driven addict.

Technical contributions cap off the intelligent storytelling: Cinematographer Russell Lee Fine's incisive framings clue us to the delicate personal relationships, while composer Jack Livesey's edgy sounds nudge us to the horrors that one weak moment can wreak.

SHERRYBABY
Sherry Films

Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Laurie Collyer
Producers: Marc Turtletaub, Lemore Syvan
Executive producer: Jeb Brody
Director of photography: Russell Lee Fine
Production designer: Stephen Beatrice
Music: Jack Livesey
Costume designer: Jill Newell
Editors: Curtiss Clayton, Joe Landauer
Cast:
Sherry: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Bobby: Brad Henke
Parole Officer Hernandez: Giancarlo Esposito
Bob Sr.: Sam Bottoms
Lynette: Bridget Barkan
Alexis: Ryan Simpkins
Marcia: Kate Burton
Andy: Rio Hackford
Dean: Danny Trejo
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 96 minutes