Photo provided by Ron Batzdorff Continuing her commitment to bringing real heroes to life, Hilary Swank stars as Betty Anne and Sam Rockwell is her wrongly jailed brother Kenny in Conviction.

By Sandra Kemick

Betty Anne Waters may have been separated from her brother Kenny by being sent to a different foster home, but her love for him was unwavering. This sibling devotion is the theme for the movie Conviction, an inspiring drama based on a true story.

Continuing her commitment to bringing real heroes to life, Hilary Swank stars as Betty Anne. Swank portrays the woman whose brother Kenny was charged with and convicted of murder. Frustrated by the criminal justice system and unwavering in her belief of Kenny’s innocence, she gets her GED, her college degree, then completes law school and passes the bar so she can help her brother get acquitted of the charges.

 

Swank has rock-solid credibility as Betty Anne, but it is Sam Rockwell’s portrayal of Kenny that makes this film engage the audience. Kenny is quick-witted and playful, loving, but also has a short fuse. The audience will love him, but see the short temper that could have led to murder. In his small town of Ayer, MA, Kenny was always the one to cause trouble, even though he had no malice in his heart.

The cast of this film, directed by Tony Goldwyn, is astounding, even in small roles. Minnie Driver as Abra Rice, fellow law student and Betty Anne’s best friend, is the right arm we would all wish to have in her directness and devotion.

Those of us who were fans of the Baltimore-based series Homicide: Life on the Street have a deep fondness for Melissa Leo. In this film she again plays a cop, Nancy Taylor, but not one you want in your town. Leo makes even this unlikable character three-dimensional, and not pure ambition.

Juliette Lewis portrays Kenny’s ex-girlfriend, whose testimony leads to his conviction. Her two scenes just about steal the show from Rockwell and Swank.

Kenny serves 18 years in jail until scientific breakthroughs and DNA analysis finally can be used in his case. Even then, it is still not an easy thing to overturn a conviction; Betty Anne needs the help of Barry Scheck’s Innocence Project to make it all happen. As she learns, people do not like to admit they were wrong.

Goldwyn tells the story making the most of the dramatic elements. He shows us bits of the siblings’ childhood which forged the bond that held the children together through tough times - the view is not just through rose-colored glasses. Betty Anne’s obsession with her brother’s case ends her marriage and Kenny’s drinking and carousing lead to violence. These are not stock movie characters, they are real flesh and blood, and although dramatized, they seem real.

Conviction

does not mention the saddest of endings. Kenny Waters was finally exonerated, but died shortly after his release from jail. But even knowing that does not diminish the enjoyment of this compelling film.