Return to Sender (2005)

It is a performances centric movie

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

"Return To Sender" aka "Convicted" is a first-rate drama. The plot is: Charlotte Cory (Connie Nielsen) is on death row. There's only a week until her execution. Her lawyer (Kelly Preston) is running out of options to save her. Then Frank Nitzche (Aidan Quinn) comes into the picture. He wants to prove Charlotte's innocence, but he has a lustful attraction for her that's derailing the investigation. Can Charlotte be saved? The main problem with the movie is that it feels forced to go clichéd. I say that because the mystery aspect of the film doesn't work. It overcomes that because of the acting and directing. The whole cast is great. Aidan Quinn stands out. Connie Nielsen and Kelly Preston do a fine job. There was no reason for this movie to go direct-to-video. It should've had a shot in the theaters. In the end: Watch for the actors and get annoyed that studios dump hidden gems into the video market.For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Listed on IMDb under the primary title of Return to Sender (2004) by pretty much unknown to me Danish director, Bille August (except for The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones), is about a woman on death row who is going to let herself be executed in order to protect some one else. Excellent performances by Danish stunner, Connie Nielson (the reason I rented the movie) who never looked better than here in understated prison makeup, and Aidan Quinn (as a letters from death row inmates bounty hunter) in a tight script that starts off like it's going to be an evils of capital punishment vehicle, but turns into something else, which I can only call the value of truth without giving too much away.It was only released in the US on DVD last November, but set here and filmed here and in Denmark. There aren't any external reviews in English, and only one review on IMDb that panned it. I'd have gone to see this in the theater. 7+/10.

Even though the ending was kind of deus ex machina, since anybody could have been brought forward to clear Connie Nielsen, it wasn't obvious, and there was enough tension to think that she might in fact be killed at the end. Connie did a very good job as a hardened person, and a person who had spent a great number of nights on drugs and alcohol. Aidan Quinn was good as the originally uncaring journalist who came to fall in love with her. Kelly Preston did a professional acting job, but she doesn't have any emotional depth to her. The lighting was good. The scenes were properly paced. The interaction between Connie/Aidan gave the story its emotional weight. The stupid cop wasn't necessary, and didn't provide any real relief of tension.

This was a movie that OK. The acting was OK, the story was OK, everything was OK, but not more than that. I wasn't p***** off about the time I spent watching it, but there were a lot of other ways (better ways) I could've spent that time. Bottom line, it's a good movie to see if you've got NOTHING else to do. The other thing to mention about the movie is that it had been done before. Not the exact same movie. But you can't help saying to yourself "haven't i seen this one before". It's just one of those movies that has that feeling about them. That being said, I'll go home and watch cartoons. Yeah, cartoons kick a55.