Conviction is the true story of Carl Upchurch. Haven't heard of him? You're not the only one…but the more I find out about the guy, the more I admire him.

Upchurch was a man who was sentenced to prison (on more than one occasion), and it actually did the guy some good in hindsight. It was there that he taught himself to read, and even earned a degree. He then focused his life on his particular calling: doing his part to end gang violence. One a gang member himself, Upchurch used his knowledge of the 'trade' as a symbol of respect, and all this really seemed to have turned his life around. Here's a man who is a genuine product of the legal system, and all the better for it.

His breakthough arrived soon after his sentencing, as his main enemy in prison was boredom. As said earlier, he taught himself to read, and challenged himself constantly…one of the books he showed particular interest in was a collection of sonnets by William Shakespeare (talk about going from 0 to 60!). He even committed several of these sonnets to memory. While poking around for more information about him, I came along a letter from a man from Santa Clara University who had the honor of hearing Upchurch speak in 2001. He shared a bit about the experience, including a sonnet which Upchurch recited:

Sonnet 29
When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love rememb'red such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

The letter can be viewed in its entirety here.

It's easy to see the connection here: Carl Upchurch, a young black man, found himself identifying with an old, dead white man. When you can see parts of yourself in a seemingly opposite person, you can then appreciate the value of cultural tolerance. In any case, he used the knowledge he obtained in prison to help himself in the real world. Nothing groundbreaking…or is it?

Whether Carl Upchurch was a great man or just "some guy" depends on how much you want to learn about the man. Information about Upchurch is far less plentiful than, say, Martin Luther King or Malcolm X, but it's there if you're looking. To me, he seems to be a very intelligent man, who was determined to better himself regardless of the situation he was in. Either way, the most recent story of Carl Upchurch's life comes in the form of a Showtime original movie, titled Conviction. Based on his autobiography, Convicted in the Womb, this movie presented Upchurch's life story, all cleverly wrapped into a 98-minute package.

I'll be brief here---Conviction isn't 'Movie of the Year' material. While far from terrible, it is overshadowed by its predecessors in the 'feel-good prison drama' category, most namely The Shawshank Redemption and The Hurricane. The acting is pretty solid, though…Omar Epps plays Upchurch with great skill, and Dana Delaney does a decent job as his mentor is prison. Overall, though, the movie seems a little flat, but I can't put my finger on why. Perhaps it's the underlying feeling that, while the story is inspiring and accurate…we've simply seen this all before. In any case, Paramount serves up the DVD in a much-less-inspiring fashion. Let's see what we have here:

Video:
The video is presented here in 1.33:1 full-frame, the preferred aspect ratio of made-for-TV movie enthusiasts everywhere! As far as I can guess, this was the original framing of the series (I don't subscribe to Showtime), as the compositions look pretty good. However, a few close-up shots look uncomfortably close to the camera, leading me to believe this might be a hack job. If anyone caught this on TV and can verify the original aspect ratio, drop me an e-mail and I'll update this section. Anyways, what we do get looks pretty good. The video transfer isn't anything to write home about, but it still looks good nonetheless. Colors hold up nicely, and dark scenes look good too. The overall look is a little on the muted side, though I'm sure this was the original look of the broadcast presentation. With all that said, it's not bad for the made-for-TV genre, so Conviction gets off easy in the video department.

Audio:
The audio was pretty good on this one. Presented in Dolby Surround, it was pretty detailed in most scenes. Ambience was also quite good (especially for a dialogue-driven movie such as this one). Even the LFE channel got some use here and there. Overall, Conviction fared well in the audio department. That's at least one thing that won't disappoint about this DVD release.

Extras:
What extras? None here…unless you count interactive menus and chapter selections.

Menu design and presentation:
Menus are the of the typical boring, static variety…as mentioned earlier, there are only two different menus; the main menu and chapter selections. Like the 'extras' section, this whole DVD set seemed very rushed and the movie seems a little less important because of it.

Should anything else have been included?
I would have loved to hear some participation from Carl Upchurch himself, but a bit of research shows that, sadly, he died earlier this year (at the young age of 53, no less). Perhaps he was in poor health while the DVD was being put together---I haven't found any details of his death yet---but it's a real mystery why more things couldn't have been added to accompany the movie. This is a very familiar scenario---a somewhat ordinary movie that could have been really improved with the right attention. An audio commentary by the director, or even some writings from Upchurch could have helped things. Cast and crew information, or even subtitles would have been appreciated. As it is, this DVD is a pretty sub-par effort from Paramount, and there should be little or no excuse why this couldn't have earned a bit more attention from them.

Conviction was a decent movie marred by the typical made-for-TV disadvantages: less audience and recognition, limited budget, and a pretty lacking DVD release. Still, unless you're a major follower of Upchurch's teachings and life story (or you liked this enough on Showtime), you're best off renting this one. I would recommend it easily if the DVD had more meat to it, but it isn't worth a purchase for casually interested viewers, especially given the price tag. It's a shame, too---from what I've learned about Carl Upchurch, he deserved a lot more.