TCFF scored another feat with this one, screening it two weeks before this is out on limited release. All four studio movies screened at Twin Cities Film Fest are inspired by real-life people, this time it’s about Betty Anne Waters, an unemployed single mother who spent nearly two decades putting herself through school to earn a law degree so she could represent her wrongly-convicted brother in court. Even just reading about her story I had tears in my eyes!
I wish I had been able to catch this one last night, I don’t know what came over me that I left this one out of my five flix to see list. The role of Betty Anne looks tailor-made for two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank, and she surrounds herself with a great cast that includes Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, Juliette Lewis and Peter Gallagher. The actor/director/producer Tony Goldwyn, best known for playing Patrick Swayze’s nemesis in Ghost, helms this project. Waters’ remarkable story definitely makes for a compelling film, and one that’s bound to be noticed come Award season. Both Swank and Rockwell seem poised to get a few nominations for their intense performance.
Now, the trailer is pretty serviceable, but I was quite engrossed in it… until that score came on towards the end. Why in the world do they use the exact same one as in the Avatar trailer?? I mean, I actually quite like that score the first time I heard it, but I found it so distracting here I couldn’t even focus on the trailer once it came on. It’s like that Hans Zimmer Gladiator score that got recycled mercilessly, regardless of what movie or genre, or whether it even fit the mood of the story!
In any case, has anybody seen this movie? Well, what did you think?
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Don’t think I’ll see it just because the trailer pretty much IS the entire movie in a three-minute span. Good cast though.
Yeah, I hate it when trailers do that, but at the same time, lame trailers don’t always mean lame movies, and vice versa. In fact, I’ve been disappointed by a few movies that have awesome trailers this year. In any case, the cast is what drew me to this.
Don’t be so sure you see EVERYTHING in the trailer… Haven’t seen it, but the cast looks great, especially nice to see Minnie Driver again. Good thing I paid no attention to Avatar, so have no problem with the music in the trailer ;-0, but if it’s been repeated as often as you say, I understand your lament.
Yeah, I LOVE Minnie Driver, I wish she had been in more movies. As for the music thing, I just think it’s silly that they use the same one from a movie than nearly a billion people have seen! There’s gotta be other more compelling scores out there that’d suit this theme better.
I am looking forward to seeing Conviction. sorry that you missed it. I hope that it is as good as it seemingly promises to be. This might end up being one of Swank’s best performances. (not counting Million Dollar Baby, of course). We’ll see. Since it’s a limited release in 2 weeks, that probably means I won’t get it in theaters for a month….
I might catch that one on dvd. I like Hilary Swank and Minnie Driver, and the story will surely tug your heart strings.