Dir. Tony Goldwyn, USA , 2010, 107 mins
Cast: Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, Karen Young, Juliette Lewis
Review by Carlie Newman
In spite of a number of flaws, Conviction is a gripping and often moving piece of film making. Using a number of flashbacks and flash forwards, director Tony Goldwyn tells the true life story of Betty Anne Waters (Swank) and her brother Kenny (Rockwell), who are brought up by an inadequate mother (Karen Young), who allows them to run wild in an uncontrolled manner. Frequently getting into trouble for stealing from shops and breaking into people’s homes, they are eventually taken away from their mother and put into separate foster homes. Even when separated they remain close with Betty Anne being called upon to rescue her brother from the police station. However when Kenny is arrested for the murder of a neighbour, he is not worried as he knows that he is innocent of this crime. Two years later, a corrupt police officer, Nancy Taylor (Leo) manages to gather “evidence” to land Kenny in jail on murder charges. Found guilty on the testimony of his two former girlfriends, Kenny is convicted and given a very long sentence.
When Kenny attempts to commit suicide because he can’t bear the thought of spending his life behind bars, Betty Anne, by now an unemployed mother of two, demonstrates her love for her brother yet again. She promises him that, if he agrees to never harm himself again, she will obtain her high school diploma, take a college degree and then go to law school in order to gain the skills to set him free. In the course of her aims, she loses her husband and the care of her two sons. It is only with the development of DNA techniques, which prove the innocence of others convicted of serious crimes, that Betty Anne can begin to help Kenny 16 years later.
Scenes from the childhood of Betty Anne and her brother are well executed and Young shows the flaws of a woman incapable of mothering. Swank at the centre of the film is always competent, but there is at times something lacking in her acting: her eyes do not always mirror her emotions. Rockwell, however, is totally convincing as Kenny, moving from feelings of elation when he expects to be released to utter despair as he realises that his hopes are not going to be fulfilled. Driver also gives a nuanced performance as Abra, “the other old lady” in the class at law school, who becomes not only Betty Anne’s friend but also her co-worker in the search for new evidence with which to free Kenny. Smaller parts, including Peter Gallagher as well-known lawyer Barry Scheck, fighting to prove the innocence of many wrongly incarcerated prisoners and Leo as the cop who distorts the evidence, are also well played. The only performance that misses the mark is Juliette Lewis, whose acting is distinctly over the top as Kenny’s dissolute former girlfriend. For the dramatic way in which it depicts the relationship between the siblings and Betty Anne’s extreme act of devotion in giving up her own life in her efforts to prove her brother innocent, this film is to be recommended.
