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Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated Conviction (2010) in Movies
Jun 22, 2019 (Updated Jun 23, 2019)
Betty Anne (Swank) and Kenneth Waters (Rockwell) are siblings who have been close ever since childhood. However Kenneth has always had problems with the law that only escalated as he got older and Betty Anne was always there for him to bail him out or give him a ride home. Now that he's facing life in prison for a murder he may not have even committed, Betty Anne is convinced that her brother is innocent of the charges even though everyone else has accepted the fact that Kenneth is a murderer including his daughter, Mandy (Graynor). Betty Anne is willing to do whatever it takes to make her brother a free man even if it means putting herself through law school, becoming a lawyer, and reopening a case that's 16 years old.
On the surface, Conviction seems like a very mixed bag. There had been little to no promotion for it out here while the trailer hadn't really been attached to any recent screenings. I do recall seeing a trailer for the film one time online months ago, but that's it. Truth be told, that's usually the best way to see a film. No scene has the chance to be overplayed because you had seen the trailer however many times. Conviction is very much an independent film and is borderline nonexistent even though it had a limited release last week. The result was not only an extremely emotional and powerful film, but Conviction also features some of the strongest performances of the year.
The dramatic film jumps around in time right from the beginning. We're shown the horrific aftermath of Katharina Brow's gruesome murder and then jump back to the present day where we see Betty Anne visiting Kenneth in prison. Soon after that, we travel back into the past where we're shown the adult lives of Betty Anne and Kenneth. They're very much a part of each other's lives even when they both have families of their own to worry about. Kenneth's run ins with the law become more frequent as he seems to be picked up whenever the law is broken in Ayer, Massachusetts. Then, we jump even further back into the past during Betty Anne and Kenneth's childhood. They were very close even at that age, but they didn't live normal lives. They were stealing, trespassing, and breaking and entering at an early age. The time jumps were kind of infrequent and abrupt; they seemed to just happen at whim but provided quite a bit of background history about Betty Anne and Kenneth that was crucial to the overall story.
I'm honestly not a fan of Hilary Swank. She's just never done anything for me. The main point of interest for me was Sam Rockwell. Ever since his magnificent performance in last year's Moon, I've been trying to see as many of his films as possible and they very rarely disappoint. Conviction relies on the chemistry between Swank and Rockwell though. The whole movie wouldn't be anything without the connection those two have. Swank is incredibly family driven as the aftermath of her devoting most of her life to freeing her brother takes its toll on the rest of her life and her family. Rockwell is as fantastic as ever as just a simple expression on his face seems to say more about his character than any kind of reaction could, but his emotional outbursts are just as spectacular. Before he went to prison, Kenneth Waters seemed like a family man with a warm personality that cracked a lot of jokes but flew off the handle at the drop of a hat and lost control that usually resulted in a trip downtown. Prison is tearing him apart and it shows not only in Rockwell's performance but Swank's as well.
Conviction is one of the most effective dramas of the year that delivers an impact you'll be feeling long after you leave the theater. It takes you on a roller coaster of emotions that is well worth the ride. All the chips on the table lie in the hands of Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell while their on-screen presence alone seems to drive the film even when they're not saying anything. One of the best aspects of the film is that Betty Anne believes her brother is innocent and even when that comes into question, she doesn't want to hear any of it. Near the end of the film, it doesn't really seem to matter if Kenneth is innocent or not. Betty Anne believes it to be true and that's good enough for her. Her passion seems to be the underlying factor of this film. If you're looking for a film that feels heartfelt and genuine, then Conviction is a film you may want to look into.
On the surface, Conviction seems like a very mixed bag. There had been little to no promotion for it out here while the trailer hadn't really been attached to any recent screenings. I do recall seeing a trailer for the film one time online months ago, but that's it. Truth be told, that's usually the best way to see a film. No scene has the chance to be overplayed because you had seen the trailer however many times. Conviction is very much an independent film and is borderline nonexistent even though it had a limited release last week. The result was not only an extremely emotional and powerful film, but Conviction also features some of the strongest performances of the year.
The dramatic film jumps around in time right from the beginning. We're shown the horrific aftermath of Katharina Brow's gruesome murder and then jump back to the present day where we see Betty Anne visiting Kenneth in prison. Soon after that, we travel back into the past where we're shown the adult lives of Betty Anne and Kenneth. They're very much a part of each other's lives even when they both have families of their own to worry about. Kenneth's run ins with the law become more frequent as he seems to be picked up whenever the law is broken in Ayer, Massachusetts. Then, we jump even further back into the past during Betty Anne and Kenneth's childhood. They were very close even at that age, but they didn't live normal lives. They were stealing, trespassing, and breaking and entering at an early age. The time jumps were kind of infrequent and abrupt; they seemed to just happen at whim but provided quite a bit of background history about Betty Anne and Kenneth that was crucial to the overall story.
I'm honestly not a fan of Hilary Swank. She's just never done anything for me. The main point of interest for me was Sam Rockwell. Ever since his magnificent performance in last year's Moon, I've been trying to see as many of his films as possible and they very rarely disappoint. Conviction relies on the chemistry between Swank and Rockwell though. The whole movie wouldn't be anything without the connection those two have. Swank is incredibly family driven as the aftermath of her devoting most of her life to freeing her brother takes its toll on the rest of her life and her family. Rockwell is as fantastic as ever as just a simple expression on his face seems to say more about his character than any kind of reaction could, but his emotional outbursts are just as spectacular. Before he went to prison, Kenneth Waters seemed like a family man with a warm personality that cracked a lot of jokes but flew off the handle at the drop of a hat and lost control that usually resulted in a trip downtown. Prison is tearing him apart and it shows not only in Rockwell's performance but Swank's as well.
Conviction is one of the most effective dramas of the year that delivers an impact you'll be feeling long after you leave the theater. It takes you on a roller coaster of emotions that is well worth the ride. All the chips on the table lie in the hands of Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell while their on-screen presence alone seems to drive the film even when they're not saying anything. One of the best aspects of the film is that Betty Anne believes her brother is innocent and even when that comes into question, she doesn't want to hear any of it. Near the end of the film, it doesn't really seem to matter if Kenneth is innocent or not. Betty Anne believes it to be true and that's good enough for her. Her passion seems to be the underlying factor of this film. If you're looking for a film that feels heartfelt and genuine, then Conviction is a film you may want to look into.
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Unraveling (Unraveling, #1) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
Within the first ten pages of <i>Unraveling</i>, the main character, Janelle Tenner, dies from a runaway pick-up. A fellow student from her school, Ben Michaels, revives her and then runs off before she fully awakens. Convinced there's more than meets the eye with Ben, Janelle won't give up trying to figure out how and what he did to her and why she isn't dead, even facing her best friend's refusal to believe she died and Ben's denial of ever resurrecting her. As she pieces together that puzzle, Janelle plays detective on a case her F.B.I. agent father is working on, by rifling through top secret files and eavesdropping, that involves a mysterious countdown and people dying of radiation poisoning, which are somehow connected to the man behind the wheel of the vehicle that hit her and possibly even to Ben as well.
The author did a great job setting up the story with a slow build that introduces Janelle's life, both at home and at school, along with any free time she may have, and accelerates once it hits the halfway point until it reaches the book's climactic ending. In particular, the development of her home life was interesting and had depth. She has a mother who's bi-polar and not "there" most of the time and a father who seemingly avoids dealing with the realities of his wife's mental illness by being a workaholic, so all the household responsibilities fall on Janelle's shoulders. She takes care of her family and does the majority of the cleaning, cooking, laundry, and most importantly of all, being a mother to her younger brother, Jared. She makes sure he does his homework, has meals, and gets to school on time. What's nice about their relationship is that he actually respects his sister and there isn't much in the way of petty arguments, which was refreshing. I liked the whole interrelationships of the core family: Janelle, Jared, and their father. They all loved each other, faults and all, and even adding in the situation that Janelle's mother is in, they felt like a genuine family. Adding to that, both Alex (Janelle's best friend and my favorite character) and Struz (her dad's partner/friend) were a part of the family too. If there was anything that stood out in the book for me, it was how people related to each other in it, for good or ill. I loved Alex and Janelle's friendship, again it was really authentic, and they were just that, best friends. No romantic agenda going on, no secret one-sided yearning, only true friendship where they looked out for one another.
Janelle herself was a strong character, but not so strong she never showed her feelings. She could be quick-tempered, but usually for good reason, she stood up for herself when necessary, and was sensible, so while she could be judgmental and at times conceited, those flaws made her realistic. Nobody's perfect. The experiences she's had to live through have molded her, so every action and reaction she made made perfect sense to who she is, whether it's flying off the handle or falling into pieces. While I can't say I ever totally liked her, I understood and respected her; there aren't many YA characters I can say that about. Every character in the book had their own identity, whether they had a small role to play or a bigger one, so there was no confusion to who they were. Ben, the mysterious "stoner", is of course the love interest. He could have been more fully fleshed out, but I still got a basic idea of who he was and he's at least a nice guy, which is a novel idea these days. The love story between Janelle and Ben felt like it could actually happen that way. The chemistry between the two was well-written so the magnetic attraction between them is palpable. I remember how it is to be a teenager (scary but true), and I hate to be such a broken record, but it felt realistic. Do I think it was love? No, not yet, but they have a connection and it's a start towards something serious.
The plot is intriguing and has a lot of good ideas that generally mesh well together. Each short chapter, some less than a page long, features numbers counting down to the big event that's at the core of the novel. I'm not going to go into details since it'd be too hard to do without giving anything away, but I will say that I enjoyed how the story was told and how it unfolded. While this is sci-fi, it's light on the 'sci' part and not everything is explained as well as it could be, but hopefully the sequel will tackle some of the bigger components. Most of my complaints are trivial: the ending was rushed for an almost 450 page book, there was a passing comment about AAA that wasn't right, the phrase 'junior detective' was used just a little too much, an info dump that would have worked better as dialogue, and a couple of other inconsistencies that hopefully were caught before the final copy was printed. However, I admit to some ire at an event that happened at the end, I just didn't feel there was any need for it plot-wise and thought it total overkill. That was unfortunate but overall I still enjoyed the book cover to cover. A solid four-star book that's a cut above the rest and left me looking forward to the sequel.
The author did a great job setting up the story with a slow build that introduces Janelle's life, both at home and at school, along with any free time she may have, and accelerates once it hits the halfway point until it reaches the book's climactic ending. In particular, the development of her home life was interesting and had depth. She has a mother who's bi-polar and not "there" most of the time and a father who seemingly avoids dealing with the realities of his wife's mental illness by being a workaholic, so all the household responsibilities fall on Janelle's shoulders. She takes care of her family and does the majority of the cleaning, cooking, laundry, and most importantly of all, being a mother to her younger brother, Jared. She makes sure he does his homework, has meals, and gets to school on time. What's nice about their relationship is that he actually respects his sister and there isn't much in the way of petty arguments, which was refreshing. I liked the whole interrelationships of the core family: Janelle, Jared, and their father. They all loved each other, faults and all, and even adding in the situation that Janelle's mother is in, they felt like a genuine family. Adding to that, both Alex (Janelle's best friend and my favorite character) and Struz (her dad's partner/friend) were a part of the family too. If there was anything that stood out in the book for me, it was how people related to each other in it, for good or ill. I loved Alex and Janelle's friendship, again it was really authentic, and they were just that, best friends. No romantic agenda going on, no secret one-sided yearning, only true friendship where they looked out for one another.
Janelle herself was a strong character, but not so strong she never showed her feelings. She could be quick-tempered, but usually for good reason, she stood up for herself when necessary, and was sensible, so while she could be judgmental and at times conceited, those flaws made her realistic. Nobody's perfect. The experiences she's had to live through have molded her, so every action and reaction she made made perfect sense to who she is, whether it's flying off the handle or falling into pieces. While I can't say I ever totally liked her, I understood and respected her; there aren't many YA characters I can say that about. Every character in the book had their own identity, whether they had a small role to play or a bigger one, so there was no confusion to who they were. Ben, the mysterious "stoner", is of course the love interest. He could have been more fully fleshed out, but I still got a basic idea of who he was and he's at least a nice guy, which is a novel idea these days. The love story between Janelle and Ben felt like it could actually happen that way. The chemistry between the two was well-written so the magnetic attraction between them is palpable. I remember how it is to be a teenager (scary but true), and I hate to be such a broken record, but it felt realistic. Do I think it was love? No, not yet, but they have a connection and it's a start towards something serious.
The plot is intriguing and has a lot of good ideas that generally mesh well together. Each short chapter, some less than a page long, features numbers counting down to the big event that's at the core of the novel. I'm not going to go into details since it'd be too hard to do without giving anything away, but I will say that I enjoyed how the story was told and how it unfolded. While this is sci-fi, it's light on the 'sci' part and not everything is explained as well as it could be, but hopefully the sequel will tackle some of the bigger components. Most of my complaints are trivial: the ending was rushed for an almost 450 page book, there was a passing comment about AAA that wasn't right, the phrase 'junior detective' was used just a little too much, an info dump that would have worked better as dialogue, and a couple of other inconsistencies that hopefully were caught before the final copy was printed. However, I admit to some ire at an event that happened at the end, I just didn't feel there was any need for it plot-wise and thought it total overkill. That was unfortunate but overall I still enjoyed the book cover to cover. A solid four-star book that's a cut above the rest and left me looking forward to the sequel.