MOVIE REVIEW: CONVICTION (15)

"TOO MUCH DRAMA
NOT ENOUGH IMPACT"
SLIDER’S REVIEW:

This is a film that has slipped under the radar for some unknown reason. I haven’t seen a glimpse of the trailer on TV neither have I heard anyone talk about it. If I wasn’t reviewing latest films in the cinema I wouldn’t have found out about this one.

When I saw the trailer for this film It looked like an exciting movie to watch and it being a true story It looked like it was worthy of a watch. Conviction is a Drama film directed by Tony Goldwyn (last film he directed was The Last House On The Left, 2009). Betty Anne Waters is the main character played by Hilary Swank. She is a woman who goes to law school to investigate her brother Kenneth Water's (Sam Rockwell) case. He is in prison for murdering a woman. She does not believe he’s guilty so she spends 18 years fighting the law to get him out.

I watched Conviction with my hopes up and surprisingly I was let down. This film is basically a long and boring way of telling a true story. I don’t think the writer put enough scenes of what it meant to be the sister and how it felt to see her achieve what she does.  Films like this are meant to have ingredients that excite and at the same time have the audience in an emotional state. We all knew what the film was about I just needed it to be told in a great way. Is that too much to ask for? I didn’t like the way it was laid out. It was a one level film. Every time something significant happens in the film it didn’t phase me as much as it should have. There just wasn’t enough impact as a whole. This is another film that should have been on TV not in the cinema. I’m glad that the story is real because if it was made it then it would have been a tragic failure.

Hilary Swank as an actress is very good. She brings such likeness to all her roles. The last film of her I watched was the 2004 Million Dollar Baby (one where she becomes a boxer and gets paralyzed at the end). In conviction she pulls off a great a performance of such an extraordinary woman who devoted her life to helping her brother in the name of love and justice. The brother played by Sam Rockwell, he does a good enough job. Another film let down by the storyline but has great acting.

These two main characters saved this movie on several counts. Their brother and sister act on screen felt as real as the people they are portraying. Anyone watching could believe they were actually related and not acting. The belief in the sister eyes when she looks at her brother is powerful. She has such belief and love for him that she looks willing to die fighting his cause.

*THIS PISSED ME RIGHT OFF*

I READ ONLINE THAT THE REAL KENNETH WATERS DIED AFTER TAKING A SHORTCUT TO A CHINESE RESTAURANT 6 MONTHS AFTER BEING RELEASED FROM PRISON. HIS SISTER SPENT 18 YEARS OF HER LIFE GETTING HIM OUT OF PRISON AND THEN HE GOES AND SLIP AND FALL TO HIS DEATH. #SMH

THE REAL KENNETH WATERS & HIS SISTER BETTY 

MY STAR RATINGS OUT OF 5:  2

ONE FAVOURITE MOMENT IN THE FILM:

End result.

(if you loved another moment in the film, please feel free to tell us in the comments)

TRAILER: