Conviction (2010)

Sam Rockwell

Watch the Conviction trailer

Writer: Pamela Gray

Director: Tony Goldwyn

Notable Actors: Sam Rockwell, Hilary Swank

I’ve been looking forward to Conviction for the longest time with no real expectation of how it would turn out; the film’s brilliance was expected from the story alone. You could’ve made it a Disney pastiche as it would’ve still been one of the best films of the year. I’m not quite sure when or in what context I stumbled across the incredible tale of the - - - - siblings, who together demonstrate love in a way Shakespeare himself could only dream of emulating but it’s certainly something I knew of before I knew love.

On paper Conviction is breathtaking. The story married with that cast? Can’t go wrong. I’ve never seen either of the leads give a bad performance, and things don’t change here. Sam Rockwell is intensely impressive in his multi-dimentional portrayal, and both he, Swank, and Driver do their best with a somehow lacklustre script which attempts to shove every element of real life and yet somehow still makes the majority of this thing feel like a drag on an unlit cigarette. Disapointing, pointless, and slightly embarrassing.

So why does the cinematic telling of a story more made of cinema than a majority of the fictional screenplays out there fall so bleeding flat? I’m gonna raise my hands up here and remind you that I know very little about film or the varying aptitudes needed to produce it. This blog documents my learning curve out of the classroom as I learn to see films in a brand new way, so perhaps I’m talking a load of bullshit when I say this, but fuck me is this director crap.

I’ve never in my life loathed a film for its direction before. The direction here made me Hulk angry. Conviction should have it in the bag, marrying this tale with often overlooked but immense acting talent. But the pace of the screenplay mirrored with the consistently terrible choices of the director make a once far-more-than-heart-warming story into a fucking farce.

I was annoyed from the opening shot and the irritation lasted me until the final moments. There’s so many fuck ups in the direction that there’s literally far too many to mention; the same is true of the production, and to a lesser but still important sense, the screenplay. I’m just so damn disappointed. So damn pissed off there is no other reaction than the disappointment a father has in a naughty son.

This could have been so fucking good. There’s really no way to explain it. You’d get so much more from this story if you knew the true facts alone, ignoring this hideous mess of a movie. So please. Read this instead. It gives you so much more, and doesn’t put you in danger of a stroke brought on by undirected anger (pun intentional).