Review of Conviction (2010) by Henrik S — 21 Mar 2011
The story might be predictable, especially if you are familiar with the true story on which this film is based, but the execution is good and the cast is stellar, led by Hilary Swank who is one of the finest and unique actresses out there in my opinion.
The direction is pretty straight forward which had only been the only way to go about this film as the source material is so powerful, there is no need to add bells & whistles to the premise and gripping scenes. Sometimes, the film is pushing the tearjerking a bit and there half a dozen scenes in the film where Swank has a breakdown or starts to drown her own tears and while I am sure it reflects the insane swirl of emotions of the main character, it did wore me out about as a viewer. I would have liked to see more glimpses of her struggling to maintain her everyday life and while it is made very clear that she sacrificed a lot to get her brother out of jail (inlcluding her marriage), the tragedy of her character is played down. After all, even if you get your brother out of jail after 16 years, how much is already lost ?
Sam Rockwell does a good job, but he is more of a supporting character and I found it a but odd that he never portrayed or showed outrage when wrongly convicted, somehow I feel the filmmakers opted for keeping the question of his guilt ambigious, which is both insulting (given the fact that he is an innocent man) and pointless, considering that this is a true story after all (at least based on a true story).
The rest of the cast is strong, Melissa Leo's character is a tad one dimensional and her evil bearing comes across a slightly too villanious at times. Juliette Lewis shows us what we are missing when she is dedicating her life to touring with her band, a great performance, yet the character really fell right into her lap and expertise.
An enjoyable film, especially if you are interested in films about law, the courtroom and guilt, even more so when they are based on a true story. A remarkable effort and I am glad they finally managed to make it after ten years. Seeing how this only made a handful of million and brought in a loss and shit like Avatar makes billions makes me loose my faith in humanity.
You should not miss this one, not a masterpiece or groundbreaker by any means but a very honest film with a strong emotional impact.
HX.
This review of Conviction (2010) was written by Henrik S on 21 Mar 2011.
Conviction has generally received positive reviews.
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