Conviction
Director: Tony Goldwyn
Starring: Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell and Melissa Leo
Year: 2010
Watched: 20/1/11
What the Fudge is it?
Based on the true story of Betty Walters, a single mother who dedicated a shit load of time putting herself through law school to try and overturn her brothers murder conviction. By shit load i mean 12 years or so.
What i Thought...
I don't know if it bodes well for a film when I'm not looking forward to reviewing it. There are a few reasons for this. Maybe it wasn't that good or maybe its because i have another film to review next that i enjoyed slightly more. in this case it could be both. But fuck it this woman spent 12 years or so getting through law school i can must up 12 minutes or so to review it.
So as the what the fudge section says or as i should probably refer to it the synopsis. Conviction is the story of Betty Walters who after her brother is convicted of murder and several failed appeals puts herself through law school in order to defend poor Sam Rockwell.
The film does a great job of showing us that Kenny (Sam Rockwell) is no saint. Most of the opening reel is dedicated to showing us his nasty side but also his comic value. Rockwell does a great job of playing the lovable dick. The follows the nasty event. Once locked up with the key well and truly thrown away the acting reigns are handed over to Swank.
We follow Betty as she struggles to keep her marriage together, juggle a job and get herself through law school. To be honest at times i struggled to keep interested. Swank is great as the persistent Betty and the visit to Kenny in prison give Sam Rockwell a chance to really show off. He captures Kenny as he hopes and fail and hope and fails before eventually giving up on ever getting out. So whats the problem?
its hard to say....something just is a little dull, i thought it was the directing but maybe it was the script. We seem to spend a lot of time learning to be a lawyer, don't get me wrong it took her a while to do it and that's fantastic. The movie dwells on that part too long, we are given tiny glimpses of the effects this journey has on the husband and children of Betty.
The there is the actual overturning of the conviction (if you think i just did a spoiler, fuck off!). There is an interesting story here as it uses DNA evidence and it is mixed up with hints of police corruption. This is given what seems like 30 minutes on screen. Now i know when you walk into a movie like this you probably know whats going to happen. The job of the director should be to still engage and thrill me even though i know the outcome. i guess he dropped the ball and spent too much time dwelling on how Rockwell and Swanks characters are so close instead of showing all the interesting stuff.
The acting is great and i love seeing Minnie Driver in anything (not just because she is sexy). Swank and Rockwell and great but even they could keep me overly gripped.
Overall
Good but given how other true stories this year have been gripping and entertaining it seems a little dull in parts. Some excellent acting but just baggy and not half as interesting as i was hoping.
2.5/5
As if i made it the whole way though without saying it lacked conviction. Brilliant!
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