Kenny Waters (Sam Rockwell) is convicted for the brutal 1980 murder of Katharina Brow in Ayer, Ma. His sister Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swank) is a working mom who goes back to school to get a law degree and get his brother out of prison. Fellow older student Abra (Minnie Driver) befriends her. Sergeant Nancy Taylor (Melissa Leo) was the investigating officer. He was convicted by the testimonies of his ex-wife Brenda (Clea DuVall) and ex-girlfriend Roseanna (Juliette Lewis).This is a sincere true story. Director Tony Goldwyn tries to bring something powerful but I can't shake the feeling of a made-for-TV movie. It's not about the effort or the look. The movie rolls out very traditionally without any surprises. It's very functional but it's missing a big over-arching style. The extended flashback probably takes too much of the early momentum. The audience already knows about his conviction. Short bursts of flashbacks would be more compelling and allow the audience to question Betty Anne's resolve more. The most compelling drama is whether Kenny is actually guilty. Goldwyn isn't able to find the needed structure. The cast is some of the best around and they have a few big emotional moments. Rockwell is great once again. I just think Goldwyn could have done better.

Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell are outstanding in this true tale of a sister who puts herself through Law School to overturn the wrongful conviction of her brother. The acting is superb, but it is aided by excellent pacing that is a masterclass in editing. Children grow up, marriages fail, but all these episodes are relayed matter-of-fact, reminding us of the focus and determination of the female lead. Nothing will deter her from her task, and nothing is as important. At one moment one of her sons implies she has wasted her life on a futile task. She is flabbergasted by the comment - it has not occurred to her that her mission could be interpreted this way. When she does get close to revealing the truth, the ugliness of the human actions that created her brother's hell are incredibly difficult to take. Human corruption knows no depth, but then the heights of human determination are also on display here. An incredible story, done justice by a superb production.

This film was essentially a film about someone brother being falsely accused, and a woman's struggle to try to prove her brothers innocence. The film was excellently portrayed not lingering to much on the emotional side and instead focused more on the story, which was interesting as the subject can be seen as more emotional. However the nature of the convict played by Sam Rockwell, showed a happy and sort of borderline outrageous man who really was a bit of a joker, and so any scenes with him in were sure to brighten the mood. Rockwell did also excellently portray sadness, so he was not always a joker type person which helped to keep the tone of the film.The sister character played by Hillary Swank was played exceedingly well, even in the situation, which is a woman spending a large proportion of their life to prove someone else's innocence, its really quite amazing, however Swank really did carry the film through, and was emotional enough without becoming eccentric.Other characters were kind of underplayed but were crucial, such as the role of the two sons, who showed the viewer how much of Swank's characters life, had been spent on this case but without becoming melodramatic, that other films often show. Instead this film was more realistic in its viewing of the story.The character of the best friend played by Minnie Driver was also crucial, my only criticism being that this character kind of became irrelevant about half way through the film, and this character just followed Swank around for the rest of the film, and when the eventual conclusion came they were nowhere to be seen and at the very end you just wonder what happens now.Apart form my one criticism I really enjoyed this film, It gave a realistic view of a difficult situation, especially as the case was a real life case. The main was this was done is in the films incredible acting.

Conviction is a film directed by Tony Goldwyn. It stars Hilary Swank as Betty Anne Waters and Sam Rockwell as her brother Kenneth "Kenny" Waters. It is is the inspirational true story of a sister's unwavering devotion to her brother. When Betty Anne Waters' older brother Kenny is arrested for murder and sentenced to life in 1983, Betty Anne, a Massachusetts wife and mother of two, dedicates her life to overturning the murder conviction. Convinced that her brother is innocent, Betty Anne puts herself through high school, college and, finally, law school in an 18 year quest to free Kenny. With the help of best friend Abra Rice, Betty Anne pores through suspicious evidence mounted by small town cop Nancy Taylor, meticulously retracing the steps that led to Kenny's arrest. Belief in her brother - and her quest for the truth - pushes Betty Anne and her team to uncover the facts and utilize DNA evidence with the hope of exonerating Kenny.In her study group, Betty Anne learns about the new field of DNA testing and realizes this could be the key to overturning Kenny's conviction. She contacts attorney Barry Scheck from the Innocence Project. The backlog of cases will mean waiting more than a year unless she can pass the bar and find the blood evidence from Kenny's trial herself to have it tested. At first she is stonewalled, then told the evidence was destroyed, but she refuses to give up, and she and her friend Abra embark on an odyssey to recover any evidence that might still be stored away somewhere. At the time of the trial, Kenny's blood type was shown to be identical to the killer's but DNA testing didn't exist. In the process, Betty Anne learns from an acquaintance who is now a police officer that Nancy Taylor was fired from the police department for fabricating evidence in another case. This deepens Betty Anne's suspicions about Kenny's conviction and the "evidence" given at trial. Finally the DNA results come back and establish that the blood was not Kenny's. Betty Anne and Kenny are overjoyed and think he is about to be released, after 16 years in prison, but Martha Coakley, of the District Attorney's office, refuses to vacate the conviction. They claim there was still enough evidence to convict Kenny as an accomplice, and Kenny is convinced that no matter what they do the authorities will find a way to keep him in prison to avoid admitting to a botched prosecution. Betty Anne is heartbroken but again refuses to give up.Betty Anne, Abra, and Barry Scheck visit the other two trial witnesses, Kenny's ex-wife and ex-girlfriend. Both tearfully admit that Sergeant Nancy Taylor coerced them into perjuring themselves at the trial in order to get a conviction. With an affidavit from Kenny's ex-wife and the DNA evidence, Kenny's conviction is vacated and he is freed from prison after 18 years in June 2001. Betty Anne is able to persuade his daughter, Mandy (Ari Graynor), who he had only known as a small child, that he never stopped trying to reach out to her while he was in prison despite his ex-wife's efforts to estrange them. He is able to reconnect with his daughter and is reunited with his sister, and her sons. The epilogue states that Betty Anne secured a large civil settlement from the City of Ayer for Kenny's wrongful conviction, but former Sergeant Nancy Taylor could not be charged with a crime because the statute of limitations had expired. Katharina Brow's real murderer has not been found.Less compelling -- and more manipulative -- than it should be, Conviction benefits from its compelling true story and a pair of solid performances from Swank and Rockwell.