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Conviction

Conviction (2010)

October. 15,2010
|
7.2
|
R
| Drama

When Betty Anne Waters' older brother Kenny is arrested for murder and sentenced to life in 1983, Betty Anne, a Massachusetts wife and mother of two, dedicates her life to overturning the murder conviction. Convinced that her brother is innocent, Betty Anne puts herself through high school, college and, finally, law school in an 18 year quest to free Kenny. With the help of best friend Abra Rice, Betty Anne pores through suspicious evidence mounted by small town cop Nancy Taylor, meticulously retracing the steps that led to Kenny's arrest. Belief in her brother - and her quest for the truth - pushes Betty Anne and her team to uncover the facts and utilize DNA evidence with the hope of exonerating Kenny.

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Reviews

ThedevilChoose
2010/10/15

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

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Siflutter
2010/10/16

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

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Matho
2010/10/17

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

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Staci Frederick
2010/10/18

Blistering performances.

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dromasca
2010/10/19

Hilary Swank is an actress who has the internal strength and the talent to create a type of feminine characters feminist movies can be built around. Following 'Million Dollar Baby' and 'Amelia' now comes 'Conviction'. Again her hero is taking an unusual path, she will go with her feelings and against all odds, fight adversity and fight her condition as a woman to succeed in a career and reach a goal that seems unachievable. The danger is repetition, variants around the same subject and the same type of character are good only when they reinvent themselves and bring new points of view, new angles. This does not happen in 'Conviction' and not even the facts that the story is inspired by reality and the character she plays is taken from true life do not help. Nothing seems too real, the characters develop on expected paths, and the result is a film too long, I wish I had seen the documentary instead. Good acting from Swank and her supporting team does not make this movie take off.

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chrisbender
2010/10/20

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.

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moonspinner55
2010/10/21

16 years after her brother was convicted of first degree murder, his sister, a divorced waitress with two kids, passes the bar exam and officially becomes her sibling's attorney, ready to take on the heel-dragging Massachusettes justice system and fully exonerate him at any cost. Well-produced, well-intentioned legal drama-cum-star vehicle (fashioned for its executive producer, Hilary Swank) has artificial spirit and courage, along with some puzzling and unanswered questions surrounding the gruesome killing in question. The victim, a German woman who was robbed, beaten, and stabbed in her own home, arouses no curiosity or sympathy from the filmmakers--this is strictly a showcase for the leading lady, who keeps flashing her thousand-watt smile. There are moving moments, along with excellent supporting performances from Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, and Juliette Lewis; but accented Swank (attempting a nonchalant tour-de-force) appears to become a lawyer in the amount of time it takes most people to get through high school. Her character's hurdles are interesting--and the passage of time is neatly executed--but there are no real surprises here. The based-on-fact movie-formula seems ready to curdle. **1/2 from ****

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Robert W.
2010/10/22

This story and this film have all the ear marks of being a riveting and stunning film. Unfortunately it doesn't quite reach that level of being really stunning but it definitely fits the bill for being entertaining and interesting and well worth seeing. It is a fantastic drama, held back by perhaps a slightly less than impressive lead performance and the pace of the film stumbles a little bit here and there as you try to figure out what time period you're in. But don't let those small complaints deter you because this is an uplifting and excellent film that will have you cheering.I admit I am not a big Hilary Swank fan. I think she overacts and she's over rated a lot of the time. She does okay in this role but in a role that is loosely comparable to Erin Brockovich in a lot of ways she doesn't fit the bill. I think a different actor could have done more with the part but she does okay. Sam Rockwell does an excellent job as the wrongfully accused brother of Swank's character. Rockwell goes through so much in the film and the transition he goes through in jail is plainly displayed by his performance.The triumph of the film is what Swank's character goes through over the course of years to save her brother. The moments of breakthrough she has in his case will have you cheering and rooting for her success. Director Tony Goldwyn has a lot of experience in Television and far more in acting. Conviction plays out like a television show in its pace where they try to cram a lot into the hour and a half film. Sometimes you just feel like you have to try hard to keep up. Still Conviction is a great drama, well worth seeing, it will entertain you and has a terrific story. Definitely worth your time. 8/10

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