Literary adaptations and true-life stories are par for the course come awards season. Conviction falls into the latter category.
Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell star as siblings, Betty Anne and Kenny Waters, who live in Ayers, Massachusetts. As kids they grew up with a neglectful mother, spent much of their childhood stealing candy from the grocery store and breaking into people's houses. They were eventually split apart and put into foster care, but remained devoted to each other. Even when Kenny becomes a husband and father, he doesn't straighten up. While partying with his family, Kenny picks a fight with a guy, to everyone's consternation, and then puts them back at ease with an impromptu strip show.
The story really begins in 1981 when a neighbor woman is brutally murdered. As the local troublemaker, Kenny is picked up by the cops, questioned, and released. Two years later, he is arrested for the killing. Kenny maintains his innocence. It seems his only crime was being a smartass to the police and, in particular, the investigating officer, Nancy Taylor (Melissa Leo). Kenny's wife (Clea DuVall) and ex-girlfriend (Juliette Lewis) give damning testimony and he is sentenced to life in prison.
Betty Anne spends the next decade earning a GED, Bachelor's, and a degree in law in order to defend her brother. Throughout that time, she attempts to maintain a delicate balance being a mother, wife, student, and crusader while working as a bartender at night. Her unwavering determination costs her a marriage as well as custody of her sons. However, Betty Anne's hard work pays off due to advances in DNA evidence during the early-90's. She also receives help along the way from Minnie Driver as a law school friend and Peter Gallagher as a high-powered New York attorney.
Hilary Swank really excels at portraying these types of blue-collar characters having already won two Oscars for Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby. It's not the most memorable performance of the year, but it's the exact type of inspirational role that the Academy loves. Sam Rockwell is probably my favorite actor working today and he is great in Conviction. Rockwell arms Kenny Waters with a disarming charm that makes you overlook his shortcomings. But, that inner spirit is withered away from years of false imprisonment. Melissa Leo is solid as the cop who railroads Kenny while Juliette Lewis tends to overact as a walking white trash nightmare. The acting is what really lifts the film above the trappings of a made-for-TV movie of the week.
Director Tony Goldwin and screenwriter Pamela Gray (who previously worked together on the romantic drama A Walk on the Moon) take an incredible real life story and tell it in a conventional manner. The plot sticks to a basic screenwriting formula with setbacks that seem to come at predetermined intervals. For most moviegoers, this will be a negligible critique.
Conviction ends with a final denouement that gives us an update of what happened to the main characters. The real Betty Anne Waters continues to work with the Innocence Project to clear the wrongly convicted. Not mentioned is the tragic fate of Kenny Waters who died from an accidental fall only six months after being released from prison.
Rating: **
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