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The Movie: A "Law and Order" spin-off aimed a bit more towards a younger audience, "Conviction" is the latest TV effort from famed producer Dick Wolf. While the main "Law and Order" shows are still going strong, "Conviction" didn't attract the kind of interest that the network expected, and was gone after thirteen episodes. Tying this series in with the franchise is the addition of Stephanie March, playing her Alexandra Cabot role from "L & O: Special Victims Unit". Cabot is the bureau chief, presiding over a series of young Assistant District Attorneys that include: Jessica Rossi (Milena Govich), Nick Potter (Jordan Bridges, son of Beau), Billy Desmond (J. August Richards), Brian Peluso (Eric Balfour), Christina Finn (Julianne Nicholson) and Jim Steele (Anson Mount). Instead of focusing entirely on the cases, "Conviction" offers equal time to both the personal and professional lives of the characters. The problem is that the personal lives of the characters - romantic entanglements, etc. - seems a little too "been there, done that" to be all that engaging. Wolf's idea of focusing on a younger group of characters with less experience in the legal system was a good one, and the trials should have been more of the focus. While I didn't find the romantic angle that involving, the performances were still enjoyable, especially Nicholson (who was also on "Ally McBeal"), March and Bridges. Overall, while "Conviction" could have used a bit more focus (there's one or two too many characters here and the personal lives aspect doesn't feel fresh), there's enough here that works (solid performances, mostly enjoyable writing) that the series had the potential to smooth out the issues for an improved second round. The DVD VIDEO: "Conviction" is presented by Universal in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The presentation quality is generally fine, as the only main concern with the transfer was that light artifacting was infrequently visible. Sharpness and detail remained solid throughout much of the episodes, with the picture usually appearing crisp and well-defined. Colors remained natural throughout, with nice saturation and no smearing or other issues. Flesh tones looked accurate and black level remained solid. SOUND: "Conviction" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The show's audio remains mostly dialogue-driven and front-heavy, but the surrounds do chime in to offer occasional ambience and sound effects. EXTRAS: Nothing aside from character profiles. Final Thoughts: I found the professional more involving than the personal in "Conviction", but aside from a few concerns, it's a show with moments and potential that deserved a chance at a second season. The DVD offers fine audio/video quality, but no real supplements. Given the high retail price for the 3-DVD set, I'd recommend this as a rental first (via Netflix or elsewhere) for those who have yet to check it out and are interested. |