DVD Review: Conviction

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So about that "happy ending"..


Conviction is based on the true story of Betty Anne Waters, (Hilary Swank) a working mother of two who puts herself through law school in order to defend her brother Kenny, (Sam Rockwell) who has been falsely convicted of murder and armed robbery and sentenced to life without parole. His public defenders have failed him, and now it's up to Betty Anne to prove his innocence.

The story did a really good job of showing the closeness of Betty Anne and Kenny. Both Swank and Rockwell, and also the young actors who portray them as children have excellent chemistry has brother and sister. The pacing was good, and it kept me interested. The problem was it didn't keep me invested. All of the characters have potential to be interesting, but it never goes beyond that. It lacked heart. One should be happy for Betty Anne for passing her bar exam, but that's not what I felt. One should be jumping for joy when Kenny is finally freed, but I didn't feel that either. The entire movie felt like it was just going through the motions and didn't care to spend the time to get anyone emotionally invested in it.

The epilogue of the film shows us the real life Betty Anne and Kenny (who Swank and Rockwell look NOTHING like, by the way) and also lets us know that the real murderer of Katharina Brow has still never been found. Uplifting. Oh, and here's another sad thing to think about; the movie didn't mention that the real life Kenny fell to his death a mere 6 months after all of this happened.

Recommended: No

Grade: C+

Memorable Quote: "We'd sneak into houses and pretend to have a normal life. " - Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swank)

Comments

  1. Candice FrederickMarch 30, 2011 at 2:24 PM

    lol. i have to say i kinda liked the no-happy, cookie-cutter ending (i always think that's an added plus). you're right to say folks didn't feel invested in it. like everyone was really going through the motions in a really sing-songy way but no there was no real revelation made throughout it. the acting was good (minus Rockwell, who i think really slept on this one), but i was just like"eh" about it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 14, 2011 at 10:05 PM

    This is an intellectually dishonest film made at the Michigan taxpayers' expense. Any one of the three hundred Innocence Project cases would have been better that this Erin Brockovich look-alike. A feel good movie.

    Why intellectually dishonest? The major duck-up Kenneth Waters fell to his death scaling a 15 foot wall SIX months after his release. Boy, they don't let that challenging fact get in the way of the tranquilizers.

    ReplyDelete

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