This movie is incredible. Performances by Swank and Rockwell definitelydeserved nominations at big award shows. It really pulls on your heartstrings while depicting Betty Anne's devotion and dedication for herbrother whom she loves so much. She's an incredible woman. The wholetime while watching Conviction, I just kept thinking, Wow this is atrue story, Betty Anne Waters and Kenny Waters are real people whoactually had to endure this on going battle. I had not researched thecase before watching the movie so I did not know if Kenny was innocentor not but the whole time leading to the results of the DNA test I washoping he was. I would have been devastated if he wasn't. Betty Annesacrificed almost 20 years of her life to free her brother. SamRockwell did a fantastic job of portraying Kenny who became veryfrustrated for being incarcerated for a murder he did not commit. Thefact that he had a little girl when he was convicted made the storyeven harder to take. He missed his daughter growing up. Conviction mademe cry many times but it was all worth it to get the satisfaction ofdiscovering that Kenny was innocent and released from jail. Absolutelyamazing story and movie.

Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo and JulietteLewis. That is the list of experienced actors and actresses heading upthe true story of "Conviction." The 20-year story line exposes acorrupt legal system. With an outstanding cast and a poignant subjectmatter 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 openingshots that he did. The first scenes do stick in my memory. A lonecamera 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 byRockwell) meeting with his sister Betty Anne (played by Swank) inprison. Then we are sent back in time to when Betty Anne is in herfirst year of law school. Maybe audiences who like to be confused willenjoy the opening. It didn't set any tone for the movie since it takesa straight shot to tell the rest of the story with a few wisely placedflashbacks.

We are taken back roughly to the 1960s showing the bond being developedbetween Kenny and Betty Anne as children. They come from a broken homeand 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 andclass clown traits all within five minutes. As an actor, Rockwell is alikable guy. He has a playful confidence about him that seems to winaudiences over for the most part (i.e. his role as Chuck Barris in"Confessions of a Dangerous Mind"). The man that Rockwell portrays herealso seems to be liked — not only by his sister but also by the policedepartment in Ayer. Well, all except Nancy Taylor (played by Leo), anofficer on the Ayer Police Department. We don't know why Nancy has itin for him. It would have helped if Nancy had a background telling uswhy she wanted to arrest Kenny so bad.

After a couple of years Kenny is arrested and tried for the murder in1980. He is hauled off to prison because of the testimonies of hisgirlfriends (one of whom was supposedly assaulted by Kenny) and Taylor.After Kenny's suicide attempt in prison, Betty Anne dedicates the next20 years of her life to obtain her GED, go to college to earn a lawdegree 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 hasJuliette Lewis been? It was good to see her for a brief time on screen.She does give a brilliant and humorous performance. Swank and Rockwellcould possibly each earn an Oscar nod. Personally, I think Swank shouldearn 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 groundfeeling for Kenny or Betty Anne considering the actual court case orthe performances. Maybe it's because I didn't connect with Kenny'splight. 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 Idon't know anything about the actual victim. I am sure her life wasjust as important as Kenny's life.

Should you see this movie? Your Honor, I would like to cite precedentof "The Hurricane" or even, ahem, "An Innocent Man." We have seen mostof this film before in one way or another. Your Honor, if you haven'tseen those legalese movies or a similar"an-innocent-man-is-jailed-and-the-legal-system-is-corrupt" movie thenplease make a motion to see "Conviction."

On the surface, Conviction seems like a very mixed bag. There had beenlittle to no promotion for it out here while the trailer hadn't reallybeen attached to any recent screenings. I do recall seeing a trailerfor the film one time online months ago, but that's it. Truth be told,that's usually the best way to see a film. No scene has the chance tobe overplayed because you had seen the trailer however many times.Conviction is very much an independent film and is borderlinenonexistent even though it had a limited release last week. The resultwas not only an extremely emotional and powerful film, but Convictionalso features some of the strongest performances of the year.

The dramatic film jumps around in time right from the beginning. We'reshown the horrific aftermath of Katharina Brow's gruesome murder andthen jump back to the present day where we see Betty Anne visitingKenneth in prison. Soon after that, we travel back into the past wherewe're shown the adult lives of Betty Anne and Kenneth. They're verymuch a part of each other's lives even when they both have families oftheir own to worry about. Kenneth's run ins with the law become morefrequent as he seems to be picked up whenever the law is broken inAyer, Massachusetts. Then, we jump even further back into the pastduring Betty Anne and Kenneth's childhood. They were very close even atthat age, but they didn't live normal lives. They were stealing,trespassing, and breaking and entering at an early age. The time jumpswere kind of infrequent and abrupt; they seemed to just happen at whimbut provided quite a bit of background history about Betty Anne andKenneth that was crucial to the overall story.

I'm honestly not a fan of Hilary Swank. She's just never done anythingfor me. The main point of interest for me was Sam Rockwell. Ever sincehis magnificent performance in last year's Moon, I've been trying tosee as many of his films as possible and they very rarely disappoint.Conviction relies on the chemistry between Swank and Rockwell though.The whole movie wouldn't be anything without the connection those twohave. Swank is incredibly family driven as the aftermath of herdevoting most of her life to freeing her brother takes its toll on therest of her life and her family. Rockwell is as fantastic as ever asjust a simple expression on his face seems to say more about hischaracter than any kind of reaction could, but his emotional outburstsare just as spectacular. Before he went to prison, Kenneth Watersseemed like a family man with a warm personality that cracked a lot ofjokes but flew off the handle at the drop of a hat and lost controlthat usually resulted in a trip downtown. Prison is tearing him apartand it shows not only in Rockwell's performance but Swank's as well.

Conviction is one of the most effective dramas of the year thatdelivers an impact you'll be feeling long after you leave the theater.It takes you on a roller coaster of emotions that is well worth theride. All the chips on the table lie in the hands of Hilary Swank andSam Rockwell while their on-screen presence alone seems to drive thefilm even when they're not saying anything. One of the best aspects ofthe film is that Betty Anne believes her brother is innocent and evenwhen that comes into question, she doesn't want to hear any of it. Nearthe end of the film, it doesn't really seem to matter if Kenneth isinnocent or not. Betty Anne believes it to be true and that's goodenough for her. Her passion seems to be the underlying factor thatdrives the film. If you're looking for a film that feels heartfelt andgenuine, then Conviction is a film you may want to look into.

Going in I knew what the story was about, a woman who completes hereducation to free the brother who she believes was wrongly convicted ofmurder. I'd read that Waters, (Swank's character) finishes high schooland college and goes to law school; there is a passing comment abouther getting her GED, we then see a classroom filled with people youngerthan she; the professor calls on her and asks, "What is acontract?"...all of a sudden she's in law school? Swank is married, andhas two children, we don't know what the husband does, but if herclothes are any indication, he's doing okay. She and her husband arehaving problems, on a visit to her brother in prison, she's not wearingher wedding band; in a later scene she is wearing it, subsequently theydivorce. At this point their two sons are probably 11 and 13, fouryears later they're still the same size. These are just a few of thethings that really annoyed me about the film, coupled with a runningtime of an hour and forty five minutes during which flaws in a moretightly edited film would not have been nearly as glaring.