Conviction

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.

5/10