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9

NeillOct 31, 2010

I'm surprised none of these critics gave "Conviction" a four-star review. This is a touching, compelling story with a pitch-perfect cast. Each and every player is dynamite, especially Sam Rockwell and Juliette Lewis. A definite must-see!

4 of 4 users found this helpful40

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9

Save_the_EarthApr 12, 2011

This movie was really worth watching. Story flow is very smooth. It shows how easily one can get convicted based on some lies, the biggest problem of the legal system. These mis-convictions can become really costly to individuals andThis movie was really worth watching. Story flow is very smooth. It shows how easily one can get convicted based on some lies, the biggest problem of the legal system. These mis-convictions can become really costly to individuals and families. The movie also shows how many loop-holes there are in the legal system, and because of that, it can take up to a few decades to resolve a case.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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9

Tss5078May 25, 2015

A lot of film are made that are based on a true story, and most of these films claim to be inspirational, but seldom are. Finding a truly inspirational film, that is based on a true story, is like finding a needle in a haystack, in this case,A lot of film are made that are based on a true story, and most of these films claim to be inspirational, but seldom are. Finding a truly inspirational film, that is based on a true story, is like finding a needle in a haystack, in this case, that needle is called Conviction. Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swank) came from a dysfunctional family, dropped out of High School, got married, and had kids, while she was still a child herself. She never wanted to be anything more than a housewife, until her brother, Kenneth (Sam Rockwell), was convicted of a murder she knew he couldn't have committed. It took fifteen long years, but Betty Anne got her GED, finished college, and went to law school, with the hopes of one day getting her brother exonerated. Hilary Swank stars and thrives in roles like this one. Despite her beauty and talent, she is one of the most down to earth people in Hollywood, and is always very believable as a normal, every day person. In most of her films, she is the kind of person audiences empathize with and cheer for, making her perfect for this role. She is paired with Sam Rockwell who is one of the most underrated stars in Hollywood. The man has immense talent, but is seldom talked about, because of the awful films he decides to star in. I have admired Rockwell for a long time, but this is the first time I can remember rating a film he was in higher than three stars. Conviction is a real story, written by the people who lived through it. It is heartfelt, inspirational, and most importantly real. The film may have bombed in theaters, but it is a true gem that was seriously overlooked.… Expand

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5

ShiiraNov 14, 2010

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. When unconditional love tampers with your brain, it can make you say the most illogical things. Seated at a bar table, Betty Anne Walters(Hilary Swank) announces to her party in a voice full of conviction, that the man on the dance floor, her brother, who in the next minute will proceed to threaten a man's life with a broken beer bottle, would make a good dad. Poor Mandy. Aunt Betty is f*cked-up. Good dads don't bring their babies into bars; good moms, too. In Ben Affleck's "Gone Baby Gone", the townie detectives(played by Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan) encounter the same sort of ignorance towards child safety when a bar patron interviewee misses the point completely by chastising Helene McCready(Amy Ryan) for bringing her baby girl to the pub...at night. What's the deal with Massachusetts? Betty Anne, it would seem, was dead wrong about her brother's future prospects as a responsible parent, since the film itself, in disaccordance with the sister's assessment of her older sibling, uses The Knack's "My Sharona", a sort of new wave update of Maurice Chevalier's "Thank God for Little Girls", over the soundtrack, almost unilaterally, while Kenny goes full Monty in his daughter's presence, which suggests that "Conviction" has an opinion of its own about the convicted felon that deviates from the official narrative. Catchy as hell, even in the hands of a two-bit bar band, the power-pop classic is also misogynistic and depraved, the very same qualities that embody the "good" father. Bolstered by the loaded song, a case for flawed gallantry can be made on behalf of Officer Taylor(Melissa Leo), since Kenny's railroading, arguably, rescues Mandy from a father who "always get[s] it up for the touch of the younger kind". "My Sharona" is not some innocuous pop song. It contextualizes matters. When Kenny holds his victim to the ground, with the jagged glass of the bottle just inches away from severing the man's carotid artery, you can hear him protect Mandy's good name with an intensity that's matched only by Betty Anne's devotion for her brother, an all-consuming relationship some would daresay as being Oedipal in nature, as it subsists at the expense of lapsed and lapsing, marital and familial alliances, beyond all reason. "My Sharona", with its weird incestuous overtones, suggests a bizarre love triangle, defused by Officer Taylor's creative police work, which sends Kenny to prison and Mandy off to child protective services. Until she suited her needs, Betty Anne doesn't contact Kenny's daughter for a long time, only doing so when her case dictated that the girl be contacted as a means of freeing her brother through Mandy's mother. She keeps Kenny to herself; her older brother, her protector, whose letters from prison she saves, like a lover, and who needs to be reminded by the guards during her visits that touching is absolutely prohibited. As children, the two would lie in Katharine Brow's bed and pretend that they were married. It's what tore them apart, after authorities arrived at the house and discovered their trespassing. Certainly, Kenny had motive. In "Gone Baby Gone", some law-enforcement chicanery engineered by Chief of Police Jack Doyle(Morgan Freeman) and Detective Sergeant Remy Bressant(Ed Harris) gives Helene's little girl a second chance, which is, in essence, what happens to Mandy, who grows up in the same "white trash" milieu as Amanda McCready. Betty Anne is similar to the Patrick Kenzie(played by Affleck), who stubbornly believes that a child belongs with its biological parent. But seriously, what kind of man was Kenny Waters? Although it's unforgivable what Officer Taylor did to this innocent man, the man portrayed in "Conviction" does seem like, as they say, a piece of work. The way he treats the female police officer, who is only doing her job, on the day she comes to question him about the Katharine Brow murder, gets ugly real fast, reducing the law enforcement officer into a sex object with derogatory names such as "buttercup" and "Angie Dickinson", names that become doubly hurtful, since Nancy is not a beautiful woman. He's being ironic. He's being Mel Gibson-like, in which Mad Max called a female police sergeant "*****t*ts" during his deposition following a DUI arrest in 2006. Gibson comes to mind when one of the witnesses(played by Juliette Lewis) refers to Barry Scheck(Peter Gallagher) as "that Jew lawyer from the tee-vee". It's bad enough that a girlfriend provided false testimony, but the mother of his child, too? Rather than get angry at the mother, Betty Anne should have tried to be objective for once, and reconsidered Kenny, whose own wife was willing to throw him in jail. What kind of man was Kenny Walters, anyway? The filmmaker has an answer; an answer in song.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

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2

kingshahidOct 23, 2011

This movie was more of a drama. It may have been touching to some with a heartfelt story to it, but it put me to sleep in the first 30minutes and as I was hoping it got better but it got even more boring as they literally put you in herThis movie was more of a drama. It may have been touching to some with a heartfelt story to it, but it put me to sleep in the first 30minutes and as I was hoping it got better but it got even more boring as they literally put you in her shoe's. Not my piece of cake.… Expand

0 of 4 users found this helpful04

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6

SmellyCatNov 14, 2010

Conviction really is what many have coined as 'Oscar-bait'. It's one of those films that plays heavily to the emotion of it's audience, attempting to ignite that emotional reaction from you, at any costs. However, in Conviction's case, likeConviction really is what many have coined as 'Oscar-bait'. It's one of those films that plays heavily to the emotion of it's audience, attempting to ignite that emotional reaction from you, at any costs. However, in Conviction's case, like Secretariat a few weeks back, it works and succeeds at that goal. It's a film with good acting, direction, and a solid script. Sure, it's kind of Erin Brockovich with some tweaking and tinkering, but Erin Brockovich was a damn fine movie, and Conviction is solid, even if on a lesser level. Sam Rockwell offers a huge breath of fresh air with a funny and moving performance as the imprisoned brother, even though most of the movie is kind of 'been there, done that'.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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6

FDT44Jun 2, 2011

The roles of three of its actors (Swank, Rockwell, and Leo) turn this inspiring courtroom/crime drama into a spectacle that owns your attention, and in its moments, softens the most hard of hearts. What the viewer sees and feels is theThe roles of three of its actors (Swank, Rockwell, and Leo) turn this inspiring courtroom/crime drama into a spectacle that owns your attention, and in its moments, softens the most hard of hearts. What the viewer sees and feels is the avidity of deep-rooted dauntlessness versus the resistance of being told "no." Swank brings us there both with a vibrant smile that breathes optimism and a grimmace of heart rending dejection and despair. Rockwell also is impressive as he takes on a stock character--an arrogant, loud-mouthed yet charismatic drunkard, and a wrongly accused prisoner who is dark, mysterious, and increasingly more morose. Watching him deal with his battle against the clock, abated by his sister's similar scenario, is the familial compassion that spikes the film's pulse. Leo and Lewis are also very convincing in their respective roles as well. My only problem lies in certain points in the film (Swank and Driver "upping" their wardrobes to "look" like a lawyer) come across a bit too Disney and seem more fitting for Lifetime than the theater. The pathos brought about by the characters is excellent, only, when you start watching the continual tears run down Swank's face, you can feel the falsity, then you see the on-screen action take on the form of an acting audition--forced emotions and many eyedrops. The direction of the film is also "too good too be true" at times, again falling into the realm of "made-for-tv" entertainment. Overall, viewed topically, the film is a must-see, popcorn, Friday- night flick.… Expand

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7

nutterjrFeb 24, 2011

Rockwell and Swank give it all in this unbelievable true story. In the hands of a different director this could easily have been a very strong Oscar contender.