TV director Tony Goldwyn’s (Dexter) first venture onto the big screen tells the true tale of Kenny Waters (played by Sam Rockwell), a bad seed from Ayer, MA wrongfully convicted of  murder back in 1983. Waters was well-known to the cops since he was a pup – for petty shit like stealing candy and trespassing – so anytime something dirty went down in Ayer he got picked up. That’s how it goes in the sticks sometimes. Instead of moving on and taking care of her two sons, Kenny’s sister Betty Anne chooses to go to law school to beat the system that screwed her big bro. She enlists the aid of the amazing folks at the Innocence Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to proving the innocence of the wrongfully convicted. 18 years and some tremendous breakthroughs in DNA profiling later…Kenny is found innocent and released from prison. And justice for all!

Goldwyn didn’t really have to over-dramatize or spice-up anything to make this film intense. What could possibly be added to this story? This dude sat in jail for 18 years for a crime he had nothing to do with. And his incorrigible sister, who didn’t even graduate high school, becomes a freaking lawyer and frees his ass. That’s one “holy shit” true stories that make you feel all warm and fuzzy. There’s no tactless artistic strokes or sweeping orchestral music to force an emotion down your throat. No crazy twists. Just damn good story telling. And Sam Rockwell always knocks it out of the park. I haven’t seen everything he’s done, but I think we can all agree that he’s one of the best working right now.

So,what’s with the title of this review. Well…SWANK.

I can’t stand Hilary Swank. Her acting never feels natural and she looks weird. I loathe her. Boys Don’t Cry might be the only exception but other than that I’d be happy if she was never in another movie. Granted, I’m deeply biased because of her early role in The Next Karate Kid, which sits like an embarrassing canker on one of my favorite film franchises of all time. I own the Karate Kid box set and I still refuse to watch that turd. Then my distaste for her reached its apex when she won the Oscar for Million Dollar Baby. I saw it in the theater because I love Eastwood, but when Swank won and was all like “I’m just a small-town gal from the trailer park” I wanted to dropkick my TV. You’re a celebrity. At the Oscars. You make millions. Shutup with that disbelief over how far you’ve made it and stop acting like you don’t know how you got there. So yeah, 16 years after she shared the screen with my man Pat Morita, I still can’t be an adult about it. But I have to humble myself before Conviction and say that the inspiring source material, Goldwyn’s direction, and Rockwell’s presence keep Swank from dragging this movie into the swamp.

BUT other than SWANK, Conviction is really really good. For someone who lived in MA for six years, it was great to hear believable accents and not see everyone wearing Red Sox and Bruins track jackets. The direction is great and it’ll be interesting to see what project Tony Goldwyn chooses to helm next. It’s clear that he knows how to sculpt a drama without any extraneous bullshit or played-out tricks. The charismatic Sam Rockwell is amazing as always – even when he’s looking like that biker dude Jesse James (see below). To date he hasn’t done wrong in my eyes (Zaphod Beeblebrox wasn’t his fault) and after last year’s role in Moon, I’d gladly pay to see him on screen any day. So I’ll let this one slide, Swank. But I’m keeping my eye on you.

- Oh Mars