Guilty of Being Superb
A movie about broken laws, lawyers, appeals and evidence, yet there are limited courtroom scenes. Truly this is a movie that those of us tired of dramatic closing statments that win the day can find appealing...get it? Appealing? Har har har!
Ahem, moving on.
Betty Ann and Kenny Waters are siblings who are tighter than a salty, wet knot on a sailing ship. But when Kenny is convicted of brutally murdering a local woman he is sentenced to life in prison without parole. Appeal after appeal gets them nowhere and pretty soon they are out of options and out of public lawyers who will take the case. Betty Ann (who absolutely believes her brother is innocent) decides that the only thing left to do is to go to law school so that she can defend her brother.
The fact that this movie was based on the true story that happened back in 1983 is just icing on this immaculate cake. This is one of those slowly powerful movies that slyly shoves you into the story, making you ask yourself defining questions. The scenes of these two characters together as children, displaying the real connection that they had was paramount to the emotional basis of this movie and done superbly. I found myself gracefully blubbering in the middle of the movie (which I rarely do, blubber gracefully that is).
Now, I'm not really a member of Hillary Swank's fan club, she's not my favorite actress to watch on screen, but one has to admit that she is a first rate actress and this movie was perfect for her. Unfortunately her hair will have you writhing in your seat, but I guess there just isn't much you can do to reverse the mistakes of the 1980's fashion past.
Sam Rockwell I think is truly one of those underrated actors but he really is fantastic! Didn't he just give you the willies in The Green Mile and didn't you hate him in Iron Man 2? But then you loved him in Everybody's Fine and if you had the horrible misfortune to see (and stay awake for) The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford you felt for him. I couldn't have cast anyone better for this role in Conviction. He was lovable with an edge of greasy guilt you just couldn't ignore.
And that's not even to mention great performances by Minnie Driver and Juliette Lewis!
Motherly Advice: I had my filters set to medium for Disturbing Images and Violence and most for Profanity. I was saved from a boat load of swearing. That includes a whopping 55 'F' words (aren't their at least 55 other words in the English language that are equal to the task of expressing one's frustration?) Added to those 55 choice words are 50 other choice words you will likely want to choose to filter your ears for. ClearPlay carves out a scene that travels through the house where the murder in question has taken place and there is a lot of blood throughout the house and part of a dead body. Also edited are scenes where pictures are shown of the dead body. Some things that were still there that are sort of crucial to the story are descriptions of the murder where we learn that the victim was stabbed 30 times and other gruesome etcs. Because of these descriptions and the mature, adult plot of the movie I'm going to say it's appropriate for 17 and up.
This movie is certainly a 'should see'. If you want something slow, meaningful and well acted then pick this one up and prepare to ask yourself some defining questions. You'll be just as convinced of it's merit as I am...get it? Convinced for conviction? Wah ha ha!
Ahem, I apologize, I'm a sucker for puns.
Danielle'-What Would You Do For A Sibling
Posts
