The Lincoln Lawyer

The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

Director: Brad Furman

Writers: John Romano (screenplay), Michael Connelly (novel)

Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe, William H. Macy, Josh Lucas, John Leguizamo, Michael Pena, Bob Gunton, Frances Fisher, Bryan Cranston, Trace Adkins, Laurence Mason, Margarita Levieva, Pell James, Shea Whigham, Kate Moenning

Synopsis:

Mick Haller (McConaughey) is a criminal defense attorney that operates his practice out of the back seat of his Lincoln. His friend Val (Legizamo), a bail bondsman, approaches him one day with the opportunity to represent Louis Roulet (Phillippe), a wealthy realtor who is accused of assaulting a prostitute. Roulet maintains his innocence and claims that he was a victim of the prostitute's scheme sue him. With the help of his investigator, Frank (Macy), Mick discovers there's more to the case than meets the eye. He also discovers that it connects to another case from his past, one that represents his only failure in defending a client. 

First Impressions:

This is one of those movies that I don't have any sort of nostalgic connection to. That's because this will be my first time watching it. I grabbed this film because I've become a fan of Michael Connelly through watching the Amazon series Bosch, based on his series of books about the hard-boiled LAPD detective. I also enjoyed Netflix's adaptation of The Lincoln Lawyer, which just released its first season this year. I'm also a fan of courtroom dramas. It's always fun to go in fresh to a film without any prior expectations. So, let's jump right in to the review.

Story/Direction: 

"You're nobody 'till somebody shoots you."

While I enjoy watching courtroom drama, they can be difficult to talk about without divulging a lot of spoilers (I guess you can say that about a lot of movies) because there's usually an element of mystery to the plots of these films. I wouldn't put them up to the level of a Whodunnit film like Knives Out but there's usually enough up in the air, as it pertains to the guilt or innocence of the client, that knowing the end can seriously impact the enjoyment of the story. With that being said, even though this film is over a decade old, it flew a bit under the radar, so I'm going to try my best not to reveal any spoilers.

In many ways, The Lincoln Lawyer follows many of the tropes associated with the genre. It starts out by showing us that Mick is a great lawyer that lies to skirt the ethical line a bit. He's given the opportunity to represent a client, in this case Louis, who seems to have the evidential cards stacked against him. Louis maintains that he's innocent and the prostitute, Reggie Campo (Levieva) conspired with her boyfriend (Whigham) to make it look like she was assaulted and later sue him for a large sum of money. As Mick and Frank investigate the case, they find out that Louis may be telling the truth. Not only that but it may be linked to an older case of Mick's in which he convinced his client Jesus Martinez (Pena) to accept a plea of life in prison. So far, like I said, it follows the "Courtroom Drama Playbook" to a tee. However, as the case progresses more information comes to light and that's where the film tends to veer away from the standard film of this type (that's all I can say without spoilers). It doesn't necessarily break new ground in this regard but its fairly rare (in my experience anyway) when a film of this type goes in this direction. Actually, the film reminded me a bit of the 1985 thriller The Jagged Edge with Jeff Bridges and Glenn Close. If you've seen that film, I may have already spoiled the end of this one a bit, so I'll say no more on that (also, if you've seen that film you get 10 points because you're probably old like me). 

One thing that kind of bugged me about the film's plot, and its a point that I've noticed in a lot of modern courtroom movies, is that as the case begins to unravel it starts to become a bit ridiculous. This was something that also bothered me a bit about the Netflix adaptation as well. It seems like filmmakers don't believe that their audience can sit through a film that involves a lot of talking and with very little action, so they feel they have to ramp up the outrageous to keep folks interested. Who knows, it probably true to some extent. One of the things I enjoy about films of this nature is there relative "realism," which is a nice counterbalance to a lot of the other types of movies that I am drawn to. Anyway, it wasn't a deal-breaker for me, or anything, it was just one of those little things that gnaw at my brain a bit.

Acting/Characters:

I've said it before and I'll say it again, even though many may consider it heresy, I'm not a huge fan of McConaughey's acting abilities. He's certainly charming and has a great screen presence but in most of the films I've seen him in, he's very much playing the same character. Don't get me wrong, he plays that type of character - a slick-talking charmer - very well, it's just there's not a lot of variation there. Mind you, I've not seen every film he's been in and your mileage may vary on him. That being said, as long as it meshes well with the character he's portraying - as it does in this case - then it doesn't bug me all that much. However, Mick Haller was born and raised in LA, so McConaughey's thick Texas drawl is a bit out of place. 

Ryan Phillippe's turn as Mick's client Louis Roulet  seemed like a good piece of casting. I think this may be the first film I've watched with him in it, so my experience with him as an actor is somewhat minimal. From what I've seen of him though, he tends to have "resting bitch face" which worked well with the character of a spoiled rich kid who views all of this as merely an inconvenience. It also works well at maintaining the character's ambiguity in regard to his guilt or innocence. So, I'm willing to give Phillippe a passing grade in this film.

The rest of the cast is chock-full of experienced character actors, including the treasure that is William H. Macy as Frank, Mick's affable investigator. John Leguizamo does yeoman's work as Val Valenzuela, Mick's bail bondsman buddy. Maris Tomei does a good job as Mick's ex-wife Maggie and we're also treated to an early performance from Michael Pena as Jesus Martinez. Additionally, the great Frances fisher has a small role as Louis' mother Mary and last but not least Bob Gunton shows up as Mary's lawyer Cecil Dobbs. It's a great, if underrated, cast all-in-all.

Visuals/Action:

There's not a lot of action, save for a group of bikers beating the crap out of someone and the finale in which some shots are fired but I wouldn't call either of those scenes "action" scenes in the traditional sense. Likewise, there's not much in the visuals department either. Although, I did note that the film was shot with a somewhat washed-out color palette, making Los Angeles seem very bright but at the same time, overcast. That style of visual is often used when depicting other cities like New York or Chicago, so it was a neat change of pace.

Music:

The score was composed by Cliff Martinez and I'll be damned if I can remember any of it. Like, not a single note. Nothing comes to mind at all. However, as I've often noted, I'd rather have an unmemorable score than a crummy one. 

Final Verdict:

Overall, I enjoyed The Lincoln Lawyer. It kept me guessing throughout and while the plot did start to get a little outlandish at the end, it didn't impact my viewing experience all that much. Check it out if you're looking for a solid courtroom drama or are just a fan of McConaughey.