Review: CONVICTION

The new drama CONVICTION is based on a true story and aspires to be an inspirational tale of a scrappy underdog fighting the system similar to RUDY and ERIN BROKOVICH. And like those films, CONVICTION benefits from some great actors helping to tell this true tale.

The movie begins in 1980 at a horrific crime scene . A woman in Ayer, MA has been brutally murdered in her tiny, trailer park home. Officer Nancy Taylor (FROZEN RIVER’s Melissa Leo) picks up Kenny Waters (MOON’s Sam Rockwell) for questioning(this after a heated verbal altercation). Kenny’s sister Betty Ann (AMELIA’s Hilary Swank) and her hubby Rick (MUMFORD’s Loren Dean) pick him up from the police station after his release. A couple years pass and Kenny is picked up again and charged with the murder. After hearing damning testimonies from his former girlfriends (ZODIAK’s Clea DuVall and OLD SCHOOL’s Juliette Lewis) a jury finds Kenny guilty of the crime. Betty Ann is determined to get him freed and embarks on a 12 year journey through the legal system. Although she was raising two boys and holding down a full time bar job she enrolled in law school and never gave up on her brother.

Tony Goldwin (THE LAST KISS) directs with great style from a script by Pamela Gray (MUSIC OF THE HEART), but it’s the actors that elevated CONVICTION from Lifetime TV movieland. Took me a bit to get used to her “Baaasten” accent , but Swank really makes you cheer on this working class mother. The always interesting Rockwell makes Kenny a very compelling if not always likable character. Sure you feel for the guy, but he’s got a real anger management problem. I was surprised and delighted to see Minnie Driver in the film as Betty Ann’s law school classmate and pal. Seems like it’s been a while since we’ve seen her.Late in the film Peter Gallagher turns in an energetic performance as Barry Scheck (I hope Scheck sent a nice thank-you note to the producers). Duvall and Lewis do fine supporting work as Kenny’s exes (kudos to the make-up team for Lewis’s nasty choppers). Near the film’s end Ari Graynor (NICK AND NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST) shows off her dramatic skills as Kenny’s estranged daughter, Mandy. My only problems are with the manipulative flashback scenes of Kenny and Betty Ann as youngsters who are inseparable until the authorities pull them apart. I’d like to have seen how Betty Ann stayed on the straight and narrow while Kenny became a magnet for trouble. I’m also curious as to whether the authorities were so heartless as to arrest Kenny DURING his grandfather’s funeral services. The dissolution of Betty Ann and Rick’s marriage is quickly glossed over. He forbids her from going to law school and shortly we see Betty Ann picking up her two boys from his nice, new, suburban home. But I may be nitpicking too much. All in all CONVICTION is a well dune entry in the inspirational non-fiction film genre with some top-notch acting.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars