Conviction Reviews

I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell, I thought I should give it a try. Lately, I came to believe that Swank is struggling a little bit with her career after winning twice the Academy award for the best actress. To improve on this, she keeps showing up in real life stories like 'Amelia' and this flick. Unfortunately, those efforts were rather underwhelming. Still, I have to admit it, this flick was better than 'Amelia'. The point is that the story it was based on was really good but the movie, unfortunately, was not. First of all, I didn't care much about the random chronology. I mean, if it really doesn't add much, just don't use it. Furthermore, even though Hilary Swank gave a decent performance, I was still missing something from her character. Indeed, she ends up in a terrible situation and takes some drastic decisions but she never loses her mind in anyway. Maybe the real Betty Ann Waters also remained composed during her 20 years fight but it didn't make for a fascinating watch. On the other hand, I was once again really impressed by Sam Rockwell, such a fine and underrated actor. The guy basically spends most of the duration in the visiting room of the prison but you can see him slowly physically changing and decomposing mentally through the years. Also, at the end, they show a picture with the message 'For Kenny' so I was pretty sure the guy died but they didn't say. And guess what? I looked it up and he died in a freak accident only 6 months after he had been released! I mean, that's quite something but I guess they didn't want to ruin their happy ending. Still, it remains a very good story and in spite of its flaws, it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

CONVICTION will surely play in the Lifetime Movie Network sooner than we expect. This film is a fine way to pass the time for those who don't actually CARE much about movies and simply go to the theater on a random Sunday afternoon in which there's nothing else to do. Those people won't mind the fact that they'll always be two steps ahead of CONVICTION. This film epitomizes the whole "going through the motions" routine. There's not a single revelation, not even the tiniest plot point that comes as a surprise or that is grounded in anything original and/or creative.

Sure, some may argue that, since it's based on actual events, the film can't help being truthful to the events and showing them exactly as they happened, even if the progression of those events is identical to plots we've seen a hundred times. However, when I criticize CONVICTION's predictable and vapid nature, I'm not referring so much to the outcome of the whole story as I am to the NUANCES of each particular scene. Every scene in the film feels so damn procedural and obligatory. This is one of those cases where if you've seen the trailer, you've seen the movie, and this was particularly dispiriting for me, because as a frequent moviegoer, I had seen the trailer for CONVICTION more times than I cared for. You can imagine how disappointing it is to watch a full-length feature that hardly expands on the trite three-minute trailer you had already seen so many times.

The only reason why CONVICTION headed directly to theaters before hitting the Lifetime Movie Network is that it's got a stellar cast, full of Oscar nominees. Because of that, the acting is top-notch, but that hardly matters. When something is this pedestrian, Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell can work their magic all they want and give us occasional respite, but "occasional" isn't enough to warrant a recommendation. Juliette Lewis is particularly strong playing a grimy, beat-up character who becomes crucial towards the film's denouement, but her screen time is too limited for me to go as far as saying that she "saves" the movie.

CONVICTION has all the ingredients in it to be a powerful motion picture. While I can't say that it's "powerless," the film lacks that extra oomph to make it a worthwhile drama. This is the type of plot that is supposed to make us feel like a lot is at stake, yet there's an incredibly dissatisfying feeling of "safety" throughout the entire film because it all feels so straightforward and belabored. A waste of a great true story.

Has something ever happened to you that you knew you weren't responsible for? Kenny waters (Sam Rockwell) a struggling family man and uncle is accused of murder and convicted of it. The evidence against him is solid, all of testimonies from people he knows, says he killed Katherine Bowman. The blood type found on the murder weapon matches that of the victim. Kenny is going to jail whether he likes it or not and no one believes him except for his sister Betty Anne Waters( Hillary Swank). A working woman and a mother of two. Determined to prove the system wrong and prove her brother's innocence, Betty, begins an education in Law. Conviction not only shows us that the system has it's flaws but also that with the human determination anything is truly possible. Conviction is based a on true story and has powerful performances from both Rockwell and Swank and it's message is clear and concise, definitely a worthwhile film.