Betty Anne Waters

It is with roles based on real people that Hilary Swank has been able to thrill audiences and critics alike in the past. After "Boys don`t cry" and "Freedom Writers", the two-time Oscar winner now once again plays a real-life heroine in "Betty Anne Waters", whose story is so unbelievable that it can really only be true.

Since her not-so-easy childhood, Betty Anne Waters (Swank) has considered her brother Kenny (Sam Rockwell) the most important person in her life. Even in the most difficult moments, Betty Ann and Kenny have always stuck together. But when Kenny is sentenced to life in prison for murder, Betty Ann is forced to watch helplessly as her brother loses faith in the justice system and, even worse, in himself. But Betty Ann firmly believes in her brother's innocence. And so she makes him a promise: if he holds out in prison, she will go to law school, become a lawyer herself, and then let him retry. But the road through law school is harder than she thought, and the mother of two seems to keep pushing her own limits. However, with the help of her fellow student Abra (Minnie Driver), Betty Ann successfully graduates after a few years. But that's when the battle against the justice system really begins.

"Betty Anne Waters" is a gripping justice drama that tells the story of a woman from humble beginnings who fights tooth and nail against a system apparatus that barely cares about people like her and her brother. Hilary Swank embodies Betty Anne Waters' obsession with proving her brother's innocence with engaging strength. That she puts her marriage and relationship with her children at risk in the process, as well as neglecting any form of social contact, is a price she is willing to pay. Her fight seems to be a battle against windmills, at the end of which there can be no winners. But with the help of the New York Innocence Project and her own perseverance, Betty Anne Waters has truly achieved the impossible.

Actor Tony Goldwin ("Ghost") has once again gone behind the camera for this poignant tale from the US justice system. An extremely strong ensemble of actors has gathered in front of his lens, led but not dominated by Hilary Swank. She also leaves enough room for Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver or Juliette Lewis, who shows extreme courage to be ugly here, so that these actors can also leave a lasting impression on the viewer. Acclaimed cinematographer Adriano Goldman ("Sin Nombre") sets the action in an understated but thoroughly powerful visual language, aided aptly by Paul Cantelon's understated score.

So only the fact that some scenes just seem too long and too dry, creating little lengths here and there, really strikes a negative note. You should have a soft spot for justice dramas to be able to recognize and appreciate the real class of this film. And then also applies: absolutely worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp