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Conviction


The critical consensus

Rockwell sheds his good looks to wither away convincingly, and Swank flashes her million dollar smile to good effect, but for patronising its audience, and compromising the undoubted achievements of its earnest protagonists, Conviction stands guilty as charged.

Eddie Harrison, The List, 23/12/2010

Swank and Rockwell elevate a solid drama that tells its tall tale with, yes, conviction. It’s not exactly the whole truth, though.

***(*)(*)Neil Smith, Total Film, 03/01/2011

It’s okay in a TV movie way, but disappointing given all the obvious potential of the real story.

***(*)(*)Angie Errigo, Empire Onlilne, 10/01/2011

For a movie about a 20-year campaign to uncover the facts of a case, Conviction can be mighty shy about its own truthfulness.

**(*)(*)(*)The Scotsman, 11/01/2011

It's all dreadful, it's all glutinous, it's all trite. It's all pie-eyed beyond the dreams of Reader's Digest.

*(*)(*)(*)(*)Nigel Andrews, Financial Times, 12/01/2011

The inherent power of the ­storyline is let down by Pamela Gray’s uninspired script, which fails to generate sufficient anger at the behaviour of the police and legal authorities, leaving Conviction watchable, but unimaginative.

Chris Tookey, Daily Mail, 13/01/2011

It’s interesting enough, but underpowered as drama, and Conviction emerges as respectable and unremarkable.

Paul Greenwood, Evening Times, 13/01/2011

[An] earnest, dull film.

**(*)(*)(*)Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 13/01/2011

A so-so bordering on dull legal drama that relies on the performances of Swank and her co-star Sam Rockwell for elevation.

***(*)(*)Alison Rowat, The Herald, 13/01/2011

The facts of this true story are truly remarkable, so it's a pity that Tony Goldwyn's TV movie-style drama has contrived to muffle rather than magnify them.

**(*)(*)(*)Anthony Quinn, The Independent, 14/01/2011

If it sounds like true-story-of-the-week territory, that’s exactly what it is, and plenty goes awry.

***(*)(*)Tim Robey, The Telegraph, 13/01/2011

Conviction is a TV movie masquerading as Oscar-bait, a film in which any complexity/nuance/ambiguity/genuine drama has been rigorously beaten out of it with a by-the-numbers script and broad-strokes acting.

**(*)(*)(*)Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman, 15/01/2011

There are questions that could have been asked about Waters's motives, and whether it was right for her to sacrifice so much of her own life for the sake of Kenny's, but this drab TV movie tiptoes around them.

Nicholas Barber, The Independent on Sunday, 16/01/2011

[A] well-made, highly conventional, true-life story.

Philip French, The Observer, 16/01/2011


Features about Conviction

Interview: Hilary Swank, actress

Chitra Ramaswamy, The Scotsman, 11/01/2011

Conviction shows inconvenient truth of flawed justice

Afua Hirsch, The Guardian, 11/01/2011

Sam Rockwell: A wild card's world of pain

Jonathan Romney, The Independent, 14/01/2011

Do you have the courage of Conviction to fight miscarriages of justice?

David Cox, The Guardian, 17/01/2011

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

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