Conviction (2010): review: 5.5/10

In Michigen, a working class mother trains to become a lawyer in order to free her brother, whom she believes has been wrongly convicted for murder.

This is a protracted and earnest picture in which Hilary Swank's unusual lips provide the only light relief.

Million Dollar Baby (2004): review- 8.5/10

The rise and fall of a female boxer.

The performances are all excellent, likewise the pacing and photography.

The film includes many engaging vignettes of life in a boxing gym, and is not humourless, though it touches existential themes.