Conviction

Conviction is a 2010 drama film directed by Tony Goldwyn. It stars Hilary Swank as Betty Anne Waters and Sam Rockwell as her brother Kenneth Waters. The film premiered on September 11, 2010, at the Toronto Film Festival and was released on October 15, 2010.^[1][3

The film is based on the true story of Betty Anne Waters, an unemployed single mother who, with the help of attorney Barry Scheck from the Innocence Project, exonerated her wrongfully convicted brother. In order to do this she earned her GED, then her bachelor's, a master's in education, and eventually a law degree from Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. She accomplished this while raising two boys alone and working as a waitress part-time. While in law school, she began investigating her brother's case.

Kenneth "Kenny" Waters, her brother, was convicted in 1983 of murdering Katharina Brow in Ayer, Massachusetts (the murder occurred in 1980). Betty Anne located biological evidence and then worked with the Innocence Project, a nonprofit organization devoted to overturning wrongful convictions, to obtain DNA testing on the evidence—proving Waters' innocence and leading to his exoneration on June 19, 2001.^[4]The film ends soon after he is freed.

In chapter 9 we begin to see the genesis of Kenny & Betty Anne's relationship & very strong familial ties in stark contrast to the faint resemblance's of relationship that they both had with their birth mother.  In no way an excuse for Kenny's missteps later in life, we do tho begin to see the reasons behind them.  What a sober lesson for us as parents and future aspiring one's this portrays.  

Exodus 34:4-7 (The Message)

 ^4-7 So Moses cut two tablets of stone just like the originals. He got up early in the morning and climbed Mount Sinai as God had commanded him, carrying the two tablets of stone. God descended in the cloud and took up his position there beside him and called out the name, God. God passed in front of him and called out, "God, God, a God of mercy and grace, endlessly patient—so much love, so deeply true—loyal in love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. Still, he doesn't ignore sin. He holds sons and grandsons responsible for a father's sins to the third and even fourth generation."

In chapter 12 we see how Betty Anne's decision to pursue justice for her brother has begun to cost her considerably more than she could ever imagined it would.  Our holy pursuits of the Master can be the same, if we neglect our first ministries in giving chase to others.  We should always be ready for personal reflection and the confirmation in where our calling has placed us.

1 Timothy 5:3-8 (The Message)

^3-8Take care of widows who are destitute. If a widow has family members to take care of her, let them learn that religion begins at their own doorstep and that they should pay back with gratitude some of what they have received. This pleases God immensely. You can tell a legitimate widow by the way she has put all her hope in God, praying to him constantly for the needs of others as well as her own. But a widow who exploits people's emotions and pocketbooks—well, there's nothing to her. Tell these things to the people so that they will do the right thing in their extended family. Anyone who neglects to care for family members in need repudiates the faith. That's worse than refusing to believe in the first place.

In chapter 24, Mandy begins to realize that what she thought she knew about her absentee father was all wrong.  She begins to understand what her aunt Betty Anne was trying to tell her was truth in regards to her     dad and that she needs to rethink her position in regards to him.  In a lot of ways this scene illustrates the truth of the gospel and our own Father.  How we readily consume lies that may fit our own needs until the Truth breaks through our own disillusionment.  

Romans 1:18-23 (The Message)

^18-23But God's angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and wrongdoing and lying accumulate, as people try to put a shroud over truth. But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.