A working mother puts herself through law school in an effort to represent her brother, who has been wrongfully convicted of murder and has exhausted his chances to appeal his conviction thr... Read allA working mother puts herself through law school in an effort to represent her brother, who has been wrongfully convicted of murder and has exhausted his chances to appeal his conviction through public defenders.A working mother puts herself through law school in an effort to represent her brother, who has been wrongfully convicted of murder and has exhausted his chances to appeal his conviction through public defenders.
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- 9 wins & 10 nominations total
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I saw Betty Anne profiled some time ago -- back then, I think she was still in law school.
Kenny Waters is convicted of the murder of Katharina Brow (since she was German, I assume the original last name was Brau) who was viciously knifed in her home. The crime occurred in 1980, when there was no DNA testing, and Kenny had the same blood type as the perpetrator. Several witnesses, including Kenny's wife and ex-girlfriend, testify against him.
Betty Anne, a mother with two children, makes the decision to go to law school in order to free her brother. At that time, she doesn't even have her GED.
Betty Anne comes up against wall after wall, gets divorced, and her children, probably more to help her than anything else, finally go to live with their father. She moonlights running a bar.
She contacts Barry Scheck (Gallagher) of the Innocence Project to enlist his group's help. Scheck needs evidence -- by then, it's been about 15 years since Kenny's conviction.
This is a powerful story because it shows, again, what the determination of one person can achieve, and how his or her passion can inspire others to help.
Hillary Swank is a gifted actress, and it's a shame that she hasn't gotten more roles like she had in Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby. She's natural but intense as Betty Anne, and she can really pull at the heartstrings.
Sam Rockwell as Kenny does a wonderful job, and the two have great chemistry together. You could feel his hopelessness, and his fear of being let down.
Everyone is good in this film, with Juliette Lewis as an ex-girlfriend and Melissa Leo as policewoman Nancy Taylor standouts.
The problem I have with this film is that, strip the movie of Hillary Swank and you've got a Lifetime movie. It just doesn't come off like a feature film in the way the story is told or in its focus. It's just a little bit left of cloying. Also, note to writers -- Kenny wasn't in jail, he was in prison. There's a difference.
Despite this, it's a wonderful story, all the more dramatic because it's true. And you can't get enough of its message: One person can make a difference.
There are very few courtroom scenes, very few law school scenes, but it is filled with emotional connections between brother and sister as she visits him in prison, and as she tries living her own life. The characters dominate the beginning of the film, and the steps Swank has to take to free Rockwell keeps the film going towards the end.
It is shot well, as this is clearly Massachusetts and it set the right feelings for the film without overpowering it. The highlights are Swank and Rockwell as they both play characters with elements that we have seen before that have given Swank Oscar wins and have given Rockwell popularity. Here, he has toned down his comic antics just enough for his performance to remain popular but should also give him his first Oscar nomination.
The story may be missing a few elements that would have given it more substance to make it more interesting, but it seems to me, that's because the film-makers had a few restrictions in keeping to the true story. This may actually be a true story and not just based on one.
I recommend "Conviction" for its emotional performances and for telling its simple story well.
In 1983, Kenny is convicted of the bloody murder of an elderly neighbor largely on the basis of testimony from two former girlfriends, both of whom claimed he confessed his actions to them. Neither Kenny nor Betty Anne can afford a good attorney, so she decides to become a lawyer even though she's a high school dropout. Also serving as one of the film's executive producers, Swank come back securely to the against-all-odds territory of Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" (2004) by following Betty Ann's sixteen-year journey from her GED through college, then law school, and finally passing the bar – all while she was raising two boys and working part-time at a local pub. The ending is predictable from a mile away, but the journey is not. The introduction of DNA evidence provides a linchpin that spins the story close to Lifetime-level dramatics, especially when Betty Ann solicits the assistance of the Innocence Project, a nonprofit organization devoted to overturning wrongful convictions. Gray's screenplay is solid enough, and Goldwyn's direction is assured within the back-and-forth treatment of the timeline.
However, it's really the acting that is aces here. Beyond Swank's sterling work, Sam Rockwell brings an unpredictable furor and a surprising vulnerability to the showier role of Kenny. His rapport with Swank never feels forced, and the devotion of their sibling relationship is what really grounds the threat of hysterics in the film. The periphery is populated by a powerful squad of actresses turning in sharply etched work - Minnie Driver as Betty Ann's law-school friend Abra, whose comic spark highlights how pivotal her character is in representing the audience viewpoint; Melissa Leo ("Frozen River") as the malevolent arresting cop, whose secretive hostility provides the impetus for Kenny's conviction; Juliette Lewis as Kenny's dentally-challenged ex-girlfriend with a drunken confession scene that reveals the actress's long-forgotten raw talent below her usual giddiness; Karen Young in a brief scene as the unforgivable Mrs. Waters; and Ari Graynor ("Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist") as Kenny's embittered grown daughter. It's the cast's cumulative work that makes this movie intensely watchable.
The key in this film is the relationship of Swank and Rockwell. In a pinch they really feel they've got only each other. The film lays that out quite clearly with several flashback episodes showing their childhood and the neglect they had from their mother who was more interested in having a good time. The two kids learned to rely on each other.
Swank has her problems, she gets married and has two sons, and later is divorced from her husband and they share custody of the kids. Rockwell however is in and out of trouble for all kinds of petty crimes. And it's well known he did not get along with the victim. Later he's arrested and released for the murder/robbery and he earns the special interest of arresting officer Melissa Leo. Two years later she arrests him again because of additional evidence. Rockwell is tried and convicted and given a life sentence.
All of which does not faze Swank in the least. Few would do what she did, she put herself through law school just so Rockwell could be her first client. She even gets Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project to aid in her effort, but the leg work she has to do herself. Scheck is played here by Peter Gallagher.
In a year where Melissa Leo won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for The Fighter, she might well have gotten some consideration for her portrayal of Officer Nancy Perry. Quite frankly Rockwell is a complete jerk in this film, especially with his sexist remarks to Leo. But all it does is fuel her desire to see him in jail. Let's say Leo cuts quite a few corners and if it weren't for the new use of DNA evidence, Rockwell would still be in jail. At that it's still a long way from exoneration.
However the best scenes are between Swank and Rockwell. Swank is unshakably convinced of her brother's innocence and goes the extra light year to prove it. The two really do come across as brother and sister.
Conviction is quite the commercial for The Innocence Project and for Barry Scheck's legal talents. But most of all it's a story about family loyalty and blood bonds.
10/10
Did you know
- TriviaBetty Waters says "The movie is so true to life. Not every scene happened, but every emotion happened."
- GoofsAt one point Betty Anne Waters Hilary Swank tells Kenny Sam Rockwell that it's a good thing Massachusetts doesn't have the death penalty or he could already be dead. This however is incorrect. Massachusetts still had the death penalty in 1983, when Kenny was convicted. It was abolished the following year in 1984.
- Quotes
Betty Anne Waters: You are innocent!
Kenny Waters: Are you sure about that?
Betty Anne Waters: [crying] How can you ask me that? How can you ask me that?
- SoundtracksWhiskey in the Jar
Public Domain
Performed by Chris Hewitt and David Bagnall
- How long is Conviction?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Hermanos por siempre
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $12,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $6,783,129
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $102,351
- Oct 17, 2010
- Gross worldwide
- $11,104,555
- Runtime1 hour 47 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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