The Lincoln Lawyer

Mick Haller (Matthew McConaughey) is sleazy but efficient defense lawyer that has scum clients. He has a daughter with the attorney Maggie McPherson (Marisa Tomei) and his car is a Lincoln driven by his loyal driver Earl (Laurence Mason). When the wealthy Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe) asks Haller to defend him in a case of raping and beating the prostitute Regina Campo (Margarita Levieva), Roulet claims that he is not guilty and the woman is trying to get money from him despite the evidences against him. Haller asks his investigator Frank Levin (William H. Macy) to check Rooulet's story. Soon Haller discovers that Roulet's case is connected to an old case of his. Further, Haller can not use his findings against Roulet due to the confidentiality. When Roulet threatens Haller's family, Haller is behind the eight ball. But he is a smart guy and has an ace in the hole. "The Lincoln Lawyer" is an entertaining thriller with many plot points and a great cast. Matthew McConaughey is excellent in the role of a sleazy and smart defense lawyer that finds that has been used by a psychopath and who has a crisis of conscience for not believing in his client. The efficient Ryan Phillippe is also great in the role of a cynical psychopath and Marisa Tomei is sweet as usual. My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): "O Poder e a Lei" (The Power and the Law")

Matthew McConaughey's roles have usually been the action adventurer or the romantic comedy lead these days, but it has always been his breakout role in Joel Schumacher's A Time to Kill, based upon what would be my favourite amongst the John Grisham books, that still remained one of his best, until his second outing now in a role as a criminal defense lawyer in Michael Connelly's bestseller of the same name. I suppose McConaguhey can convincingly project the savvy and wily minds of what it takes to be a legal eagle, given that after all he had swapped law school for film school. As Mick Haller, McConaughey shows how slick his character can be in glib talking his way through his myriad of contacts and networks built up over the course of his career, from ex clients to current ones, from beat cops to opposing lawyers. At times you may suddenly think of it as being a bastardization of justice, since Law Abiding Citizen reminded one and all that it's all boiled down to what you can actually prove in the court of law. So we actually cheer Haller on as the unorthodox lawyer who gets the job done, guided by a moral compass not to put an innocent man behind bars. He operates out of the Lincoln sedan, which is where the title got its name from, though a scene in the trailer that affirmed his choice of office got left out. And as far as the trailer goes, it probably hinted at all the narrative sequence to come - with Ryan Phillippe's Louis Roulet, a rich playboy realtor who got accused of bashing up a prostitute, and for Haller to defend him only to find that his client is more than meets the eye and may not be the innocent man he incessantly proclaims to be, and ultimately finding room to threaten Haller and his family. Well, thankfully that only scratched the surface of the story, which with its rich characterization is one of the key reasons why this film should be watched, since it's not your typical Matlock episode. I may say I've seen a number of courtroom movies and it does take something extra to provide that boost to its story, and here's where Michael Connelly aces it, by constantly highlighting a sense of danger in Haller's way that strikes very close to friends and family, never fearful of getting things out of the equation. More interestingly he presents a moral and professional dilemma for Haller who finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place, and has to utilize the full extent of his savvies to bail himself out of the situation, have justice served, lock the bad guys up and ultimately, making sure his family remains safe from the very real threats coming his way. While lacking very big name stars, this film is full of character actors that make The Lincoln Lawyer a compelling watch. There's Marisa Tomei as Haller's ex-wife and co-prosecutor, William H. Macy as the investigator for Haller's camp, spotting some great hippie hairdo unseen in his films before, John Leguizamo, Michael Pena and Josh Lucas who plays a relatively green prosecutor. But of course McConaughey and Ryan Phillippe (always bearing a sense of having something to hide) were great opposite each other, on the surface standing on the same side of the law, but beneath there's trouble brewing with a capital T as the client-attorney privilege boundaries get close to being violated on moral grounds. Michael Connelly is probably better known for his detective Harry Bosch series of books, but looking at how this turned out I'm secreting hoping the other films in the Mick Haller series get made as well. A great legal thriller on manipulation with a good twist at the end, perhaps the cinematography could have been improved somewhat if all shaky cam moments got converted and done the more conventional way of putting the camera on a tripod.

If you are a fan of the film adaptations of the John Grisham legal thrillers, you might find quite a bit to like about The Lincoln Lawyer, a courtroom drama that treads on familiar ground in an effort to lead to a fairly predictable conclusion. It's not particularly memorable. Matthew McConnaughey stars as Mick Haller, a high-powered lawyer who operates (mostly) out of his Lincoln Town Car, shepherded around by a besuited driver. At least that's the idea – he's in the car for maybe three or four scenes. Anyway, he's been hired by the family of a rich lad, played by Ryan Phillippe, who's accused of battering a woman in her home after she picked him up at a local bar. But it's not long before Haller realizes that the case may have something to do with an earlier case of his, one in which his client (Michael Pena) wound up being sent to San Quentin. Seems like there may be quite a bit more to this rich kid's case than meets the eye. Haller is typical of the heroes you see in those Grisham novels/films. He knows when to play the system and when to buck it. He's a family man, even though he and his wife, played by the luminous Marisa Tomei, are divorced. He puts in long hours to work on his cases – and why not, he gets a lot of money for doing so. He has an experienced investigator, played by a scruffy-looking William H. Macy. He doesn't have the affected twang of a Grisham hero, so his shtick here is his omnipresent Lincoln. Except when it's not present, which is really quite often. Matthew McConnaughey tries his best, just as he does in most movies, but he's just up against too much predictability. As likable as he can be in character – even when he's a bit of a jerk, like in Tropic Thunder, which got him this gig – his likability can only carry a picture so far. And although it helps that there are a lot of talented folks in the movie with him, their cache combined just isn't enough to overcome the overwrought, indifferent, cliché-riddled plot. McConnaughy is charming and sly, working the refs so effortlessly as an ethically challenged lawyer, that you almost forget that the conclusion is basically forgone. Oh, sure there's a twist, if you can call it that. The movie even wants us to believe there are two of them. But The Lincoln Lawyer is just full of McGuffins, too many incidental characters who nevertheless Mean Something, and way too much wasted talent. It's done in by implausibilities and the notion that only the Hero can figure anything out – if he doesn't, it means he's been set up or lied to. It's even sort of repetitive to have McConnaughey as the lead here; he already had the experience of being the Hero in the adaptation of Grisham's A Time to Kill. So, skip it. When your movie's big hook is that your hero operates his law practice out of his car, and then you show him driving himself around in other cars, or being driven around in other cars, or being in court, or basically doing everything but conduct business out of the back of his car, then you have no hook. And, ergo, no movie.

I kid d you not I had actual goosebumps of cringe there were so many ridiculous cliches in this awful adaptation. the cool black dude chauffeur with the cool hat who tells the lawyer 'you would have doen all right in the streets'), the ex wife whose still in love with the Cad lawyer. The best friend who gets killed on the job. But that just for the scenes. the directing is atrocious an we even have a mega back and forth zoom moment like an low budget italian TV 70s movie. the poor acting of many is so beyond wooden you'd think the director hired his college mates. and the dialogues contains pieces like 'so whachagonnadoo, mike?'. absolutely dreadful. Matt MC's and Marisa Tomei's likability cant save this film, nor can William Macy's ever good acting. And how the hell can can Ryan Philippe get any work these days? Pee-wee herman is a more believable actor. Yhemvioe is so bad hit actually made me a bit angry. One you should probably should have pressed the stop button for and regret you didn't for the rest of the day.

The Lincoln Lawyer (2011) You gotta love the suave, smart, never quite cocky performance by Matthew McConaughey as a wily defense lawyer in this slightly clever, slightly formulaic movie set in contemporary L.A. He's almost like the James Bond of the justice system, operating outside the rules but ultimately on the side of good. And himself. The one woman in his life is a common movie cliché, unfortunately, though a useful one--an ex-lover he's still a little in love with, and they once had a child together so there is a tinge of sweetness once or twice. And this woman (played by Marisa Tomei--I never caught whether they were once married or if they were just making good on getting pregnant) works in the D.A.'s office, which is useful for a defense lawyer. The rest of the cast is straight Hollywood fare, including a couple of older men big players who are always strong if a little too dependable and a couple of younger actors who are a bit more pretty than talented. The includes especially the principle perp, Louis Roulet, played Ryan Phillippe (he was that brand new cop in "Crash") who is decent in a role that demanded amazing. Roulet is super rich, and he's been accused of beating up a prostitute, who in turn is accused of using Roulet in some kind of scam for his cash. It's complicated from the get go, which makes the movie get your attention and hold on--you actually have to be careful not to get lost at first. The mind game/power game between the two men--McConaughey and Phillippe--is the crux of the movie, but it never gets the intensity of say a Hitchcock film (Hitch being the master of the innocent man accused, and of psychological intensity). In fact, you might say the movie misses a beat by letting the plot center mostly on the lawyer, except for the simple fact that McConaughey is so darned good. The subplot with his child, his relationship with Tomei, and a few other small diversions don't add enough to make them worthwhile. There is, luckily, plenty of screen time with the two men together, though all the courtroom scenes might not count (Phillippe is oddly lifeless there, except for one nice overacted speech about the horror of being accused of a crime you didn't commit). And gradually a very subtle shift in guilt and motive takes place, so that what we thought was happening gets undermined. And it's no great surprise. The one surprise at the end isn't even a surprise, quite, or if it is, it's not set up enough to really make you care. It's another cliché worked into a well made movie with a single actor shining in something close to an Oscar-winning role. The title? And the selling point of the movie (a lawyer working out of his Lincoln)? A terrific idea that is only pertinent in small moments, most notably and ludicrously in the motorcycle gang scenes (plural) Which shows another direction the movie might have taken into farce and comedy. But this is a congenial movie with a serious plot of crime, enjoyable all the way through, nothing more or less than that.