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There’s not a speck of shading to the storytelling in “Conviction,” the true tale of how stay-at-home New Englander Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swank) hit the books and became a lawyer to free her brother, Kenny (Sam Rockwell), from life imprisonment for a murder she knew he didn’t commit.
Oh, it’s an inspiring story (the sort of stuff producers dream about), but the script by ”Music of the Heart” scribe Pamela Gray is all primetime-TV-procedural, all the time, and director Tony Goldwyn connects the requisite dots like a gung-ho contestant sprinting through “The Amazing Race.” Fact-based or not, the developments feel less like things that did happen than things that must.
Such is a condescending way to make a movie, suggesting all people care about in a saga this remarkable are the bullet points, not the revealing moments in between (to worsen matters, Gray and Goldwyn narrow their downward gaze at the audience with rudimentary legal exposition). That the film is still a moving, rewarding sit is testament to the great power of its performances, specifically those from Swank and Rockwell.
Usually enough to turn me away from a movie with her lack of range and refinement, Swank transforms into a whole different creature when playing de-glammed, lower-class heroines, and Waters marks the third such role she’s mastered in little more than a decade (following her work in “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Million Dollar Baby”). She’s extraordinary, and Rockwell is right there with her, nailing the conflicting rage and compassion of his gold-hearted black sheep.
When Goldwyn isn’t nearly squashing his lead duo’s efforts with broad, palm-to-the-forehead flashbacks of their characters as children, he’s thankfully pulling solid supporting turns from gals like Melissa Leo, Minnie Driver and Juliette Lewis, who round out a cast that also includes Peter Gallagher. Formerly in front of the camera himself, Goldwyn proves an actor’s director, but he shows poor instincts otherwise, and for that “Conviction” suffers dearly.
Conviction
R
Two-and-a-half reels out of four
In area theaters tomorrow
Recommended Rental
Winter’s Bone
R
Available Tuesday
In “Winter’s Bone,” Jennifer Lawrence gives a revelatory breakthrough performance as a desperate teen who must go to frightful lengths to preserve her family’s livelihood amidst a shifty backwoods community in the Ozark Mountains.
In look and tone, writer/director Debra Granik creates an incredible sense of dread, and pairs it with a coming-of-age tale that’s affecting without being sentimental. SPR
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