by: Sean Lechowicz

Oscar season has begun, and what better way to kick off months of shameless studio pandering than an “inspired by the spectacular true story” film starring Hilary Swank? “Conviction” is a by-the-book attempt at uplifting audiences while racking up numerous accolades at awards shows. Audiences have seen “Conviction” dozens of times before, whether it be called “Erin Brockovich” or “The Thin Blue Line,” offering nothing more but gritty editing and a well-known cast to entice viewers.

After her reckless brother Kenny (Sam Rockwell) is wrongfully convicted of murder, small town bartender Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swank) goes through law school in order to overturn her brother’s sentence and free him from prison.

Swank plays Betty like an enabler to her brother Kenny. During the first 15 minutes, it’s established Kenny’s been in and out of prison. We see him starting a bar fight, taunting a female cop and resisting arrest. When Betty picks him up from jail the first time, she makes jokes and shrugs it off.

It was because Kenny rubbed the female cop the wrong way and had such a sketchy background that he ended up in the big house. Of course, it’s never right to convict an innocent man in prison, but if only Betty figuratively smacked him into shape, he wouldn’t have been locked up.

In the first 30 minutes, director Tony Goldwyn peppers in flashbacks of a young Betty (Bailee Madison) and Kenny (Tobias Campbell) growing up as orphans. These scenes show the powerful bond between the siblings, and they are believably acted. Then, after those 30 minutes are up, they disappear. There’s no purpose of having more than one flashback if it isn’t going to carry on throughout the entire film. What could have been a great opportunity to parallel what’s on screen with what happened in the past ends up being filler.

The events of the film occur throughout 20 years. Jay Cassidy’s editing zips right through, hardly addressing specific years. The audience knows time has passed without a placard explicitly expressing a date. As a result, the film flows quite well. Betty’s quest leaves her home life in shambles. Time’s slipping in the film, the same way it’s slipping from Betty. Still, this technique would have more impact if Kenny weren’t the only character who ages noticeably.

Kenny repeatedly tells Betty how he can’t take prison any longer; he even attempts suicide to escape. Prison life in “Conviction” appears to be quite lax. When Betty tells him she’s found evidence that will set him free, Kenny bear hugs a burly guard. Instead of Kenny being detained for such inappropriate contact, the guard just laughs it off. Also, when Kenny hears Betty’s visiting the prison, he jokingly grabs a fellow inmate’s basketball and runs away with it. The inmates don’t brutally batter the jokester; they just shrug and continue playing. Prison shouldn’t look this fun.

Betty’s real life story is touching, but it comes off as flawed and frivolous. She ponies up a heap load of dough to attend law school. With all the time and money she’s spending, she could have gotten a quality lawyer and freed Kenny in half the time it took her to graduate.

“Conviction” is forgettable Oscar bait. Every one of Swank’s scenes looks like an award show clip, like when she emotionally collapses on her lawn after visiting Kenny. Rockwell does what he can with such a muddled and unlikable character, but it’s not enough to salvage such blandness. Hollywood needs to learn not all inspirational stories need to be adapted to film.