Movie Review: Swank and Rockwell hold 'Conviction' steady

“Conviction”

Directed by:  Tony Goldwyn
Starring: Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Peter Gallagher, Juliette Lewis
Rated: R

Hilary Swank already had a few films and supporting parts in several TV shows - “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Leaving L.A.” being the most notable - when she seemingly came out of nowhere in 1999 to play the boy who was really a girl in “Boys Don't Cry.”

She won an Oscar for that performance and another one in 2005 playing a female boxer in Clint Eastwood's “Million Dollar Baby.”

She's not a typical Hollywood movie star beauty and her work simply speaks for itself. She's one of the finest actresses of her generation and generally makes great choices in the roles she tackles.

In her latest film, she teams up with Sam Rockwell, another great actor who isn't as well known as he deserves.

“Conviction,” based on a true story, features Swank and Rockwell as brother and sister Betty Anne and Kenny Waters.

Kenny was convicted of murder in 1983. Betty Anne is convinced he is innocent and sets out to do something about it.

She's a high school dropout, so there's a long road ahead of her. She gets her high-school diploma, puts herself through college and law school and becomes an attorney. She does this for the sole purpose of proving her brother was wrongly convicted and should be released from prison.

Kenny was sort of the drunken town clown, well known for being sort of a mean drunk.

When Katherine Brow is murdered, Kenny is a suspect who makes the mistake of insulting a local lady cop (played by Melissa Leo). She makes it her life's work to see that Kenny gets convicted for the crime; her vengeance - along with the rather blurry testimony of a local floozy (a stunningly scary Juliette Lewis) - leads to that result.

After Kenny's conviction, Betty Anne sets about on her arduous educational task, and with the aid of a law school pal (Minnie Driver) and a lawyer (Peter Gallagher) who heads an organization called The Innocence Project, she eventually gets things rolling.

Betty Anne gets a lucky break when she is able to get a hold of evidence from her brother's case that was assumed to have long since been thrown away.

In 1983, at the time of the trial, DNA testing was not yet on the legal scene. But there is a fair amount of blood - from victim and culprit - in the box of evidence, and science has come a long way in the ensuing 16 years.

The best scene in the film belongs to Karen Young as the mother of Kenny and Betty Anne. We get a real sense of why the two kids grew up to be how they are. It's not pretty, and it's uncomfortable - but it's a performance filled with emotional resonance.

“Conviction” brings to mind other films, most of all “The Hurricane” - the true story of wrongly convicted boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter - and the against-all-odds lawyer played by Julia Roberts in “Erin Brockovich.”

The chemistry between Swank and Rockwell is palpable and their performances add a great deal of weight to the film.[[In-content Ad]]