INSTYLE MAGAZINE CONVICTION TIFF PARTY

Below are just a few of the faces seen tonight at the InStyle Magazine Party for Tony Goldwyn's Conviction. Just after midnight Betty Ann Waters, whom the movie is based upon, could be seen stumbling onto the street inebriated completely, before she and her friends were loaded onto an SUV to head off to Queen Street hotspot Sweaty Betty's for drinks. How fitting.

Aaron Eckhart

Jon Hamm, Jennifer Westfeldt

Justin Long

A separate SUV came prior to load what would be a star-studded ride including Hilary Swank, Justin Long, Juliette Lewis, Sam Rockwell and Tony Goldwyn.  As always, Lewis was out-of-it.  But hey, it's a party!  Hopefully she'll be coherent for her 9 AM Press Conference for the film.  

And of course Aaron Eckhart was a complete surprise as were Mad Men star Jon Hamm and his partner Jennifer Westfeldt.  Hamm is one of those people who I just seem to have no Photo-luck with, first accidentally deleting a perfectly lovely shot of him from Friday at The Town's Press Conference and now after taking a perfect photo together, it turned out that our photo was blurry!  Help!  I need a Photoshop Doctor.  This is an emergency!!  

HILARY SWANK CONVICTION TIFF Q&A VIDEO

As posted yesterday, I had attended the world premiere of Tony Goldwyn's Conviction and here's a clip of the Q&A I recorded where the Director discusses his casting choices.  You can also see how amazing Hilary Swank looked also!

HILARY SWANK AT TIFF PREMIERE OF CONVICTION (REVIEW & PICS)

Hilary Swank & Mr. Will-W.

One of the films I looked forward to seeing most at TIFF 2010 is Tony Goldwyn's Conviction, formerly know as Betty Ann Waters. Let's face it though - its parallels to Erin Brokovich are undeniable: unlikely woman hero defeats the legal system with hard work, love in her heart and undying.... conviction.  The film received its world premiere earlier today at the VISA Screening Room.

The film stars double-Oscar winner Hilary Swank as a single mother with a waitressing job who put herself through Law School to have her innocent older brother Kenneth (Sam Rockwell) released from prison. He was serving a life sentence for a murder he did not commit. It sounds unbelievable, but it really happened.

Although the film doesn't quite soar to the same tearily emotional you-can-do-it heights The Blind Side did, it is a satisfying journey and an eye-opening portrait of how many changes have been made in  the Legal system and the impact DNA identification has had on it.

Swank rarely disappoints despite having taken a few missteps lately like Black Dahlia and Amelia, but she is back in familiar territory again here as a tortured soul with a fighting spirit. She is my co-favourite Actress alongside Kate Winslet and it was an extreme honour to have been one of the few who got to meet her and believe me, many were trying to get to her, a vision of gorgeousness in a back-revealing blue number.

Supporting performances from Clea Duvall, Ari Graynor, Melissa Leo and Juliette Lewis also are stellar across the board, with Lewis somehow managing to steal the show in one scene and a mouth full of rotting teeth.  She plays an ex-girlfriend of Kenneth's who winds up testifying against him in court.  Minnie Driver plays Abra Rice, Betty's best friend who also studies to be a Lawyer and the chemistry between her and Swank is wonderful. Rockwell is endearing in this endless emotional rollercoaster and one cannot help but fall in love with his vulnerability.