Hilary Swank has a great track record at the Oscars. She’s 2 for 2 for her performances in Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby. Each time, the former 90210 star (yes she was fired after playing Steve’s girlfriend in the 90′s) was up against Annette Bening (for American Beauty and Being Julia respectively.) I say she deserved the award for Boys, but Bening should’ve won the second time around. Well, now they may be up for another battle at the Academy Awards as Swank’s new movie, Conviction (formerly titled Betty Ann Waters), has all the components of an Oscar pony. The film is a true story about a woman who defies the odds, pays her way through law school and takes on the 17 year-long case in order to prove her brother (Sam Rockwell) innocent of murder. It’s the perfect kind of strong-willed role in which Swank excels, and there’s no romance or comedy in sight to step her up. If Swank and the film live up to their hype, she could go head to head with Bening who’s receiving raves for her fantastic new film The Kids are Alright. Let’s also note that it is way too early to be predicting Oscar noms, especially when you have so many other ladies ready to battle later in the year including Robin Wright (The Conspirator), Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine), Helen Mirren (Love Ranch or The Tempest), Naomi Watts (Fair Game), Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone), Julianne Moore (also for The Kids are Alright), Julia Roberts (Eat Pray Love), Diane Lane (Secretariat) and Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole) to name just a few… I guess we’ll have to wait and see how the year turns out and whether we’ll get another Swank v. Bening showdown. In the meantime, check out the trailer for Swank’s Oscar hopeful, Conviction, below.
Conviction trailer:
Tags: Annette Bening, Conviction, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Hilary Swank, Julia Roberts, Julianne Moore, Robin Wright
