There’s a certain expectation when you watch a trailer for a drama based on what you’re told is an “inspiring” true-life tale. There are the quick cuts, the speeches about how X will do Y, the rising score, the slow-mo over emotional moments and hugs… And they’re all present in this new trailer for **Conviction. But while the promo might fall victim to some of the clichés of the genre, the cast looks solid, with Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver and Peter Gallagher’s eyebrows among the ensemble.
Conviction as a title here has a dual meaning taken from the actual events. Betty Anne Waters’ (Swank) older sibling Kenny (Rockwell) is shoved in prison for murder in 1983. Betty Anne decides that she’ll get him out. But she doesn’t bake him a cake with a file in it – that would be too easy. And wouldn’t make for a really inspiring drama, unless you maybe combined it with a sequel to **Julie & Julia **(“in a time when frosting was frowned upon…”) Nope, she decides to go back to school, get her high school diploma and then become a lawyer to reopen his case.
And she does. With the help of law school pal Abra (Driver), she starts digging through the decidedly wonky evidence that got Kenny put away, all the while worrying about his mental state in prison.
Take a look at the footage over at Apple. Conviction should arrive either later this year or early 2011, provided it's released for good behaviour.