Conviction

This is a true story. Would you rather it told differently to make better viewing, or hear the tale as it really happened. Carl held the first gang summit ever. He got leaders of street gangs from all over the country to sit together in a Kansas city church to listen about how there is a better way to live their lives. After this meeting violent youth crimes were down accross the country . Not your typical action flick...but a helluva story. Look for a cameo of the real Carl Upchurch as a prison guard standing on the roof. I forget which scene, but he is holding a shotgun accross his chest.

"Conviction" tells the success story of the late Carl Upchurch; a black man who was born to the ghetto, became a criminal, and then bootstrapped his way to prominence as a speaker, organizer, author, and activist for black causes. This Showtime production is a journeyman effort which dwells too much on Upchurch's rather ordinary misdeeds and too little on his extraordinary noble deeds. Okay stuff for anyone with an interest in Upchurch. Passable for all others. (C+)

It's the true story of how a man, John Upchurch, dragged himself away from the negativity of his upbringing, and used the experience to help others.

The movie shows his violent past, and how he saw the futility of his way of life as time past. One quote which was along the lines of, "Just because I have a lot of miles on the clock doesn't mean I'm going soft, I'm getting wise" sums it up to a certain extent.

On the whole it was better at the beginning than the end, where it got a bit slow, but on the whole it was very watchable, with a good display by the lead actor.

The movie is based on a true story about a young man (played by Omar Epps) in and out of the system. It does a good job portraying the system and rehabilitating yourself. I'm not sure what the previous comment was about exciting prison stuff. The only thing I can derive from that is something rather perverted. All-in-all, it makes a good moral attempt. The movie is excellent and is about setting higher standards for yourself and choosing the right path.

FIRST: Let us FOCUS on the Title´s Content and Context...

"I could have easily vanished into the gravitational pull of that South Philly Black Hole...But by consistent hard work...and the grace of God, I broke free!" That's how Carl Upchurch (Omar Epps) sums up his life. I promised a friend BMWTOO I would watch this film and review, giving my very best, 100 % effort...Here it is:

Couldn't help notice one reviewer's comments about how CONVICTION seemed to focus too much on Upchurch's underprivileged upbringing and violently criminal youth and not enough on his accomplishments later in life. Sadly, I feel these reviewers missed the whole point of CONVICTION! To the contrary...I think its greatest strength is how painstakingly the story takes us through Upchurch's step by step, stage by stage metamorphosis from murderous sociopathic small-time hood to national community organizer/leader, who has exerted a positive influence on our entire culture and country!

KUDOS to Epps! What a superb on-screen, slow-burn transition! Remember the scene in Clockwork Orange where Malcolm MacDowell's character is strapped to a chair with his eyes held open by force to make him see images geared to recondition him? Well, if I were dictator, all those who wouldn't watch CONVICTION voluntarily would get that last option! (Remember NOT to vote for ME if I run for office!) Sadly, Wikipedia's information on Upchurch is a scant 20 words and has been poorly entered and linked. (Check it out for yourself) If you GOOGLE his name, you'll find much better source material elsewhere. Does CONVICTION have faults? OK, this is a Showtime production, so you know the drill, right? Even though it does suffer from several Made-4-TV shortcomings, that are par for the course, the true story is profoundly inspirational and merits 5*, but my overall rating is 8.5********