My final day of TIFF started strong and unfortunately for the grand finale, ended on a kind of weak note.
First the good news. My morning film was Conviction, starring Hilary Swank in the true story of Betty Anne Waters, an unemployed single mother who went from getting a GED to getting a law degree and passing the bar so that she could fight for the release of her convicted brother Kenneth (played by Sam Rockwell), who was eventually freed based on DNA evidence in 2001 after spending 18 years in jail. (Sorry if that spoiled the movie for any of you, but if you had any doubt that this story would have ended up on screen had he not been freed you haven't seen enough movies).
It seems almost too easy to say that Swank excels, yet again, at playing a woman in a difficult situation. While never succesful playing the ingenue or in a romantic comedy (see P.S. I Love You), when she gets a part in her range no one is better, especially at playing real life women in tough circumstances. This is absolutely her movie, though Rockwell is great as Kenneth, and the focus is on Betty Anne's life and how she sacrificed it (in the words of her onscreen children) in order to save the only person who had been a constant in her life through their less than ideal childhood.
Last day of the festival and, as expected, no one from the film was around to talk about it but we did hear a bit about last week's premiere courtesy of the ladies room line. Apparently Betty Anne (the real one) was there for the Q&A, along with the film's director Tony Goldwyn (most well known as the Ghost baddie) and stars. Betty Anne is still working with the Innocence Project (who assisted her in her struggle) and managing a local bar and Kenneth, really tragically, died about 6 months after he'd been released in an accident. The news took a bit of the wind out of our sails but didn't diminish the movie too much.
It seems almost too easy to say that Swank excels, yet again, at playing a woman in a difficult situation. While never succesful playing the ingenue or in a romantic comedy (see P.S. I Love You), when she gets a part in her range no one is better, especially at playing real life women in tough circumstances. This is absolutely her movie, though Rockwell is great as Kenneth, and the focus is on Betty Anne's life and how she sacrificed it (in the words of her onscreen children) in order to save the only person who had been a constant in her life through their less than ideal childhood.
Last day of the festival and, as expected, no one from the film was around to talk about it but we did hear a bit about last week's premiere courtesy of the ladies room line. Apparently Betty Anne (the real one) was there for the Q&A, along with the film's director Tony Goldwyn (most well known as the Ghost baddie) and stars. Betty Anne is still working with the Innocence Project (who assisted her in her struggle) and managing a local bar and Kenneth, really tragically, died about 6 months after he'd been released in an accident. The news took a bit of the wind out of our sails but didn't diminish the movie too much.
And now for the meh news. My final movie of TIFF for 2010 was a bit of a letdown. Stone stars Edward Norton as Gerry, a prisoner who's served 8 years of a 10-15 year sentence and Robert DeNiro as Jack, the man responsible for reviewing him for parole. I had heard pretty mixed reviews all week talking to people in various lines who had seen the movie and I have to agree with those that said it wasn't very good.
Norton is always watchable onscreen and this is no exception, but he wasn't enough to make up for a story that just didn't say much to me. There's some sad backstory on the relationship between Jack and his wife (Frances Conroy), who have a long but clearly unfulfilling marriage. Gerry does a lot of talking and uses his wife Lucetta (Milla Jovovich) to maniputate Jack, who works her way into his life and an affair and pretty much acts like a sociopath. Gerry finds some obscure religion - though I don't know if we're meant to believe that this is real or just more manipulation - and eventually gets out of prison. Jack falls apart, retires and lives in fear that Gerry will come after him for sleeping with his wife. There's a confrontation in an alley that goes nowhere...and then it ends. And I walked out sort of bemused and unsatisfied, reminding myself that even though the festival ended on a blah note, for the most part I was really happy with my selection this year.
Norton is always watchable onscreen and this is no exception, but he wasn't enough to make up for a story that just didn't say much to me. There's some sad backstory on the relationship between Jack and his wife (Frances Conroy), who have a long but clearly unfulfilling marriage. Gerry does a lot of talking and uses his wife Lucetta (Milla Jovovich) to maniputate Jack, who works her way into his life and an affair and pretty much acts like a sociopath. Gerry finds some obscure religion - though I don't know if we're meant to believe that this is real or just more manipulation - and eventually gets out of prison. Jack falls apart, retires and lives in fear that Gerry will come after him for sleeping with his wife. There's a confrontation in an alley that goes nowhere...and then it ends. And I walked out sort of bemused and unsatisfied, reminding myself that even though the festival ended on a blah note, for the most part I was really happy with my selection this year.
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