Conviction needs to get life.
Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo and Juliette Lewis. That is the list of experienced actors and actresses heading up the true story of “Conviction.” The 20-year story line exposes a corrupt legal system. With an outstanding cast and a poignant subject matter it is destined to deliver an emotional power house of a story. Right? It just has to. So why do I feel like I have seen yet another “innocent-man-is-wrongly-accused” movie?
I am confused on why the director (Tony Goldwyn) chose the opening shots that he did. The first scenes do stick in my memory. A lone camera walks through a seemingly empty trailer home in Ayer, Massachusetts in 1980 quietly showing us a gruesome murder scene.
Then we are shuffled ahead in time to see Kenny Waters (played by Rockwell) meeting with his sister Betty Anne (played by Swank) in prison. Then we are sent back in time to when Betty Anne is in her first year of law school. Maybe audiences who like to be confused will enjoy the opening. It didn’t set any tone for the movie since it takes a straight shot to tell the rest of the story with a few wisely placed flashbacks.
We are taken back roughly to the 1960s showing the bond being developed between Kenny and Betty Anne as children. They come from a broken home and we learn that they only have each other in this twisted world.
Goldwyn tosses us into a bar where we see Kenny’s violent, friendly and class clown traits all within five minutes. As an actor, Rockwell is a likable guy. He has a playful confidence about him that seems to win audiences over for the most part (i.e. his role as Chuck Barris in “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”). The man that Rockwell portrays here also seems to be liked — not only by his sister but also by the police department in Ayer. Well, all except Nancy Taylor (played by Leo), an officer on the Ayer Police Department. We don’t know why Nancy has it in for him. It would have helped if Nancy had a background telling us why she wanted to arrest Kenny so bad.
After a couple of years Kenny is arrested and tried for the murder in 1980. He is hauled off to prison because of the testimonies of his girlfriends (one of whom was supposedly assaulted by Kenny) and Taylor. After Kenny’s suicide attempt in prison, Betty Anne dedicates the next 20 years of her life to obtain her GED, go to college to earn a law degree and to work on this one case to prove her brother’s innocence.
Aside from the story line, the cast was a joy to watch. Where has Juliette Lewis been? It was good to see her for a brief time on screen. She does give a brilliant and humorous performance. Swank and Rockwell could possibly each earn an Oscar nod. Personally, I think Swank should earn an Oscar nod simply for rising out of bed in the morning.
I am still torn on why I don’t have anything more than a middle ground feeling for Kenny or Betty Anne considering the actual court case or the performances. Maybe it’s because I didn’t connect with Kenny’s plight. Innocent or not, it seemed as if he was headed for trouble. Not “murder” trouble but trouble nonetheless.
Maybe it’s because there was a woman who was murdered in 1980 and I don’t know anything about the actual victim. I am sure her life was just as important as Kenny’s life.
Should you see this movie? Your Honor, I would like to cite precedent of “The Hurricane” or even, ahem, “An Innocent Man.” We have seen most of this film before in one way or another. Your Honor, if you haven’t seen those legalese movies or a similar “an-innocent-man-is-jailed-and-the-legal-system-is-corrupt” movie then please make a motion to see “Conviction.”
