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88The magic in the film is in the actors. Only somebody who has stripped himself emotionally bare for the camera could achieve the level of performance that Goldwyn gets from every single SAG member on this set.
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88This is an inspirational true story worried less about turning dramatic screws than earning its feeling through character.
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88Emerges as a potent inspirational story on the strength of its two lead performances.
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83The ever-magnetic Sam Rockwell is Kenny, Minnie Driver is full of beans as Betty Anne's best friend, Melissa Leo is wicked good as an ornery cop, and, in her two chewy scenes, Juliette Lewis reminds fans why we want her to run free forever.
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80The film is in the tradition of fighting-the-system stories drawn from real life such as "Erin Brokovich," and its powerful emotional appeal should draw a substantial grownup audience.
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80A stirring, unforgettable motion picture experience, a superbly acted and courageous story of one woman who made a difference.
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75The story is sustained by the stubborn love between the siblings and by the conviction of the two fine actors who portray them.
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75It's an amazing story, one that would seem too far-fetched if it weren't true.
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75In Hilary Swank, the film finds the right actress to embody gritty tenacity.
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75It's a noble enterprise, and a remarkable story, but it's not a movie that will set you free.
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75Filled with nuance, intricate emotion and a refreshing absence of melodramatics, Conviction is a moving exploration of light and love shining through the darkness of despair. Its impact cannot easily be shaken.
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75There is one aspect of Conviction that is a real cheat. No mention is made that Kenny, six months after his release from prison, accidentally fell and fatally fractured his skull. Did the filmmakers think that our knowing this would wreck a happy ending? For a film that prides itself on its realism, this omission is unspeakably wimpy.
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70Swank and Rockwell, both typically great in almost everything they do, act as if their lives depended on it - their lives, not their characters'.
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70What takes Conviction out of the "Erin Brockovich" inspirational orbit - and gives it fresh interest - is the fact that Betty Anne is never portrayed as a fish suddenly taking brilliantly to judicial waters. Instead of being a legal savant, she's a persistent lunatic tilting at windmills for the sake of a familial love no one else can quite understand.
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70Sam Rockwell plays the brother, and in his handful of scenes he skillfully tracks the character's slow decay from cocky loudmouth to thoroughly beaten man; Swank, delivering her usual spunky turn, suffers badly by comparison.
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67Imagination is the key element that Conviction lacks.
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63Sam Rockwell has yet to find a movie as good as he is (Moon comes closest). He's still looking.
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63What Conviction lacks in characterization (the people here are monochromes - bright ones, but monochromes nonetheless) it makes up for with personality.
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63The strongest, most consistent performance is provided by Sam Rockwell, who displays a wide and convincing range of emotions.
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60The story is so bounteous that Goldwyn can't quite get a grip on it.
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60Based on a true story, the movie's best scenes involve its heroine breaking down barriers by force of will as much as by legal wrangling.
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60Some of the movie's most stirring scenes take place during Betty Anne's prison visits, when the laughter has stopped and her innocent brother contemplates his shattered life.
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58Conviction is like "Erin Brockovich" meets "Rudy."
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50What's really missing from Conviction are the thorny questions it refuses to take up with any depth.
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50Really belongs on Lifetime rather than in theaters.
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50A story based on exceptional facts gets converted into an unexceptional movie.
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50Ultimately, though, it's a little schizo, like a depressed dude in a clown suit, or a Theodore Dreiser novel hopped up on not enough happy pills.
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50In all fairness, Swank's unsubtle performance is often an extension of the bluntly dumb lines she and other cast members must deliver.
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50The film falls short of delivering the outrage and uplift that should have come easy for this true-life fight against justice denied. Unfortunately, that makes Conviction more a trial than a triumph.
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50It would be easy to dismiss Conviction on the ground that it plays like a made-for-television movie, but the truth is that, as often as not, movies made for the small screen are better than this: braver, darker, more willing to explore odd corners of feeling.
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50Although fiercely committed performances by Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell provide director Tony Goldwyn's film with a core of emotional integrity, a less heavy-handed, more informative approach would have served them and the audience better.
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40For those of us with a love of actorly indulgence, though, the film is a treasure trove, filled with enough molten-gold performances to gild a thousand Oscars.
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 9 out of 11
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Mixed: 1 out of 11
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Negative: 1 out of 11
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