Conviction

A compelling story but not great film-making here. The performances were a little over the top but Juliette Lewis as the trailer trash ex-girlfriend was amusing in her own right. The screen-play delivers the narrative facts of the story but the rest of the picture is hackneyed and rather bleak. No one's character is that well developed except that we know Kenny is a jerk and his sister is totally devoted to him. In the end the picture makes a great case against the death penalty and shows that justice is often manipulated against those that have little or no resources with which to defend themselves.