Rockwell outstanding in 'Conviction'

Cert: 15

At the heart of this true-life drama lies a formidable performance by one of Hollywood’s most under appreciated actors … and with it Sam Rockwell deserves serious Oscar consideration come voting time. He is quite brilliant.

It is, in many respects, the sort of film that appears to have been made with awards in mind, a tale of determination, stickability, of fighting the system, of the little folk against the establishment.

Swank plays single working mother Betty Anne Waters, a High School dropout who put herself through law school and launched a sustained 18-year battle to represent her brother Kenny (Rockwell) up on a murder charge and ill-served by public defenders.

But is the determined Betty deluded about her beloved sibling or is he really innocent?

The film, with a fine cast pulling out all the stops, is played low-key and is all the better for a lack of overly-dramatic highlights.

Star Rating: 4/5