Movie with Abe: Conviction

Conviction
Directed by Tony Goldwyn
Released October 15, 2010

Hilary Swank is one actress who is always up for immersing herself fully in a role, and that effort has netted her two Best Actress Oscars. Her most recent character, Amelia Earhart, bombed, and therefore Swank has suited up with a new finessed accent and transplanted herself to Boston to play Betty Anne Waters. In many ways, it’s a film-defining performance, since it’s Betty Anne’s drive that fuels her life and the lives of those around her. She doesn’t even think twice after devoting (or giving up, as her children suggest) her life to go to law school to fight to get her brother out of prison for a crime she knows he didn’t commit.

“Conviction” works better in concept than it does in execution. As a premise, Betty Anne’s resolve, and real-life struggle, to get her brother exonerated, is highly inspiring, and much effort is made to ensure that her dedication comes off in a saintly way. It’s not that Betty Anne’s intentions aren’t evidently notable, but rather that the film tries so desperately hard to make sure that comes across. As a result, the film is corny at times and overly dramatized at others, if not both at the same time.

Swank’s highly-prepared performance is indicative of the tone of the film, determined to overcome the odds even if there’s not one person standing by her side. It might be easier to get behind her energetic quest to vindicate her brother if both she and the film weren’t continually emphasizing her extreme efforts and trying to legitimize them at every turn. This is not a film lacking for Boston accents, as most of the actors clearly spent a great deal of time perfecting their dialects. The film’s comic relief is the long-absent Minnie Driver, who mysteriously offers her undying allegiance to Betty Anne despite receiving nothing (such as an occasionally thank you) in return, a fact the film never explains. The standout performer in the film is Sam Rockwell, who starts out as a cocky troublemaker and gradually becomes a pessimistic hardened criminal with absolutely no hope for the future. While Rockwell wouldn’t seem to be a good fit as a tough guy, his transformation is the most believable part of the film.

Betty Anne’s journey through law school to help out her brother was a lengthy one, yet this film picks select moments with gaps of years in between them to highlight what are likely the more interesting and meaningful moments of the experience. The smattering of scenes doesn’t feel cohesive, and there’s still a sense of wanting to know more about certain events and motivations. Even if all of the blanks weren’t able to be filled in when it comes to the true story, the film still feels incomplete and unfulfilling.

C+

Tuesday’s Top Trailer: Conviction

Welcome to a weekly feature here at Movies with Abe, Tuesday's Top Trailer. One of my favorite parts about going to see movies is the series of trailers that airs beforehand and, more often than not, the trailer is far better than the actual film. Each week, I'll be sharing a trailer I've recently seen. Please chime in with comments on what you think of the trailer and how you think the movie is going to be.

Conviction – Opening October 15, 2010



I came upon this trailer on both The Film Experience and Awards Daily after reading an article that began with “Poor Annette Bening” on GoldDerby. While I’ve only seen Bening’s impressive performance in “Mother and Child,” apparently many think she’ll be nominated for her lighter role in the upcoming dramedy “The Kids Are All Right.” The reason this is relevant to the discussion is that, just like in 1999 and 2004, Hilary Swank appears to have a vehicle that could put her in competition with Bening for the third time. Swank won on both tries, so that doesn’t bode well for the Oscarless Bening, who earned her first nomination in 1990 but didn’t take it home that time either. But speaking about “Conviction,” this new vehicle, it looks like a decently moving lawyer movie, though I do have some reservations. The first is that Swank’s accent seems to be pretty awful. I’m one of the few people who didn’t hate last year’s “Amelia,” though I didn’t love it, so I doubt this could really be too bad. The trailer, with its overdramatic music, doesn’t remind me a bit too much of “Freedom Writers,” the overwhelmingly sappy 2007 teacher movie starring Swank. The trailer gives away an extraordinary amount of the film’s plot and some of the twists, but it still could be pretty interesting. It’s also worth emphasizing that this kind of movie is supposed to be good and often is; it’s only that the bad ones are disappointing imitations of the great legal films that actually do exist. I didn’t like director Tony Goldwyn’s last movie, “The Last Kiss,” the disappointing adaptation of the great Italian film “L’ultimo bacio” (written about yesterday), but I am a fan of his TV work directing (and often starring in) episodes of shows like “Dexter” and “The L Word.” Sam Rockwell is an actor I occasionally like (“Choke”), sometimes don’t mind (“Moon”), and other times really don’t like (“Snow Angels”), and despite the seeming ridiculousness of his facial hair, he should probably be good here. Melissa Leo has turned in excellent performances on “Treme” and in “Frozen River,” and this looks like a great part for her. Rounding out the cast are Minnie Driver and Juliette Lewis, both of who haven’t done much recently and whose return to the big screen should be welcome. I have some faith that this movie won’t be falsely sentimental or overly sappy – do you?