Based on a true story, Conviction is the powerful drama about a sisters search for justice as she sacrifices a large part of her life to free her brother from prison. Conviction is also masterfully directed by Tony Goldwyn who creates an extremely realistic drama from start to finish.

Through careful flashbacks, we learn that siblings Betty (Hilary Swank) and Kenny (Sam Rockwell) had a strong bond between them and although their mother was neglected them, they were moved from foster home to foster home but somehow the two remained close throughout the years.

As an adult, Betty became married and had two children, whereas Kenny remained the loveable rogue who continued getting intro trouble with the law until one day, he is arrested by detective Nancy Taylor (Melissa Leo) because of the brutal death of a local woman. To compound the situation for Kenny, his knife is found at the scene with both his ex-partners informing police that Kenny had told them that he killed this woman.

With the evidence implicating Kenny, he is found guilty for the murder of this woman and is sentenced to life imprisonment. After Kenny exhausts the appeal system in America and almost a decade later, his sister Betty has still not given up on him and does the unthinkable and commences her law degree. In her path to become a lawyer, Betty has sacrificed quite a bit for her brother with her husband leaving her and finally, her two teenage sons deciding to move in with their father due to their mother being too preoccupied.

With assistance from her close friend Abra (Minnie Driver) whom she met in law school and with a benevolent organisation that uses DNA testing to assist wrongly imprisoned individuals, they soon discover that the evidence gathered by the police was unjustly gathered by the vindictive Nancy Taylor and DNA may prove the key to freedom for Kenny. As DNA testing was not available during the conviction of Kenny, Betty discovers that the evidence has been destroyed but through some act of god and her persistence, she learns that the evidence is still intact as she leads the appeal for her brother due to the new evidence found. This is the story of Betty Anne Waters and a the love of a brother and a sister.

With that said, Conviction is a very powerful movie that will pull at your heart strings and one cannot help but admire the determination of Betty Waters who is played perfectly by Hilary Swank. The acting by all involved in this movie is truly a treat to watch, whether it's the fun but sometimes dangerous Kenny played by Sam Rockwell or Owen Campbell as Betty's son Ben, they are brought together perfectly by the director.

Video, Audio & Special Features

The Blu-ray quality of this film is quite natural in this 1080p transfer with some great attention to detail. The highlight of the video is the contrast between the memories of the siblings to the tough and gritty reality to where they are today. Audio supports the video well with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix that contains extremely clear dialogue, sounds and music. The only real extra for this movie is a A Conversation with Tony Goldwyn and Betty Anne Waters that is a discussion between the real Betty Anne Waters. It is quite a powerful extra and very sad at the same time.

It's a shame that such a powerful movie has a lack of special features but even so, the movie more than makes up for this. Recommended!