KCMETROPOLIS.org
Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

The front door is open. A lamp is on the floor. Blood smears are on the walls. Ultimately there is a mutilated body in the back bedroom. It’s a crime scene straight out of a gruesome Dateline episode. It’s also the beginning of Conviction, a gripping drama based upon a man’s wrongful conviction and his sister’s pursuit to free him.

When Kenneth Waters (Sam Rockwell), with a long criminal history, receives a life sentence in 1983 for the 1980 murder of Katharina Brown, his sister Betty Anne (Hilary Swank) devotes herself to proving his innocence. During the next 18 years, she pushes herself to get a GED, go to college and eventually earn a law degree all while bartending part time.

Betty Anne’s obsession ruins her marriage, strains her relationship with her two young sons, and isolates her from a world convinced her brother is guilty. The one person who helps her pursuit is Abra (Minnie Driver), a fellow law student who becomes her best friend.

Hope for Kenneth’s exoneration is dim, but the development of DNA testing and the miraculous discovery of evidence used at trial gives Betty Anne the tools necessary to enlist the aid of high-power attorney Barry Scheck (Peter Gallagher) and his Innocence Project to free Kenneth.

Two-time Oscar winner Swank (Million Dollar Baby and Boys Don’t Cry) redeems herself after the abysmal flop that was Amelia. She delivers an emotionally raw performance filled with such a true grit and tenacity that perhaps only a much younger Sally Field could have equaled. She makes it easy to root for Betty Anne, who had a horrible childhood, and to be thrilled when she accomplishes what many thought were impossible.

For his part, Rockwell delivers the best performance of his career. Under the terrific direction of Tony Goldwyn, this highly underrated actor, who showed his mettle as Charley Ford in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, avoids the trap of presenting Kenneth as merely a sympathetic victim. One moment he’s the life of the party and the next he threatens to slit a guy’s throat with a broken bottle. Rockwell effectively captures all it.

The chemistry between Swank and Rockwell is undeniable, helping to make both of their performances Oscar caliber. They are also supported by a strong cast, most notably by Driver who had all but disappeared from the silver screen.

The pacing of Conviction is interrupted at times by too much jumping around in the chronology. It fails to adequately explain why Betty Anne and Abra become such close friends, and Kenneth’s tragic fate once he gets out of prison. More importantly, Brown’s still unsolved murder becomes lost in the shuffle.

On a letter grade scale from “A” being excellent to “F” for failing, Conviction receives an A-.

Conviction is rated R and has a running time of 107 minutes.

Now showing through November 4 @
Rio Theatre
7204 W 80^th St., Overland Park, KS
Visit www.fineartsgroup.com or call 913-383-8500 for more information.

By Michael D. Smith

Indie Film Editor

Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.

In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.

Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.