Conviction (2010)

	Also Known As: Betty Anne Waters (German)
	Year of first release: 2010
	Director: Tony Goldwyn (actor in Ghost, The Mechanic, The 6th Day)
	Actors: Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby), Sam Rockwell (Moon, Horrible Bosses), Melissa Leo, Juliette Lewis (From Dusk till Dawn)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 17.01.2014, HD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: After her brother (Rockwell) is imprisoned for life for murder, a young woman (Swank) decides to start studying law after hours to become a lawyer and free him.
Review: I have started a new way to find good movies to watch: on the website of the German VOD provider Maxdome to which I subscribed, I go to the section of movies included in my basic offer (for the more recent ones you have to pay extra), down-select the ones in original version, down-select by genre (for example Thrillers) and then sort them by best rating. I found Conviction like this, as it was the highest rated of those Thrillers, and that 5000 viewers agreed to that! It is for me definitely more a Drama than a Thriller, even if you do get a part of investigation. The fact that the movie is based on a true story brings some reality to it, and this strong story combined with brilliant direction create a very good movie. Besides the great acting by Swank and Rockwell, I liked in particular the flashbacks presented all along the movie, emphasizing the complicity between the brother and sister, and making their separation even more tragic. Most of the movie is then spent showing her twelve years of stuggle to combine her couple, children, work, studies and visits to her brother. I had already heard about the Innocence project (a group of lawyers using DNA testing to free innocent convicts) from a book by John Grisham and Conviction is another well-presented example of the tragedy that is being locked up without being guilty.
Rating: 8 /10