1hr 59min‎‎ – Rated R‎‎ – Drama‎
Director: Brad Furman – Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei, John Leguizamo, Ryan Phillippe, Michaela Conlin
Reviewed by Carmen Ferreiro Esteban
If you want a movie heavy in plot, with characters you have met before yet don’t mind meeting, even falling in love with, again, look no further than The Lincoln Lawyer, released last week in theaters nationwide.
The Lincoln Lawyer, I learned while writing this review, is based in a 2005 thriller of the same name by Michael Connelly. It is the first novel in the series featuring Mickey Haller, a criminal defense attorney who runs his business from the back of his Lincoln Town Car.
When we meet him and his car, a friend is driving him because Haller (Matthew McConaughey) has lost his license. But when his friend, obviously jobless, asks him to keep him as driver even after he gets his license back, Haller tells him, “I already got it back.” And in this subtle way, the viewer is told Haller for all his street smart, ‘I care only about money, not for my clients, not for justice’ attitude, is a ‘good’ guy.
This is further established when we see his interaction with his ex-wife (Marisa Tomei), with his young daughter, and with the detective/friend he hires to help him with the new high-profile case he is offered: to defend an angelic looking playboy (Ryan Phillippe) accused of beating a prostitute.
The case seems straightforward–for once Haller comes to believe his client may actually be innocent–but, as new events develop and all he thought he knew is turned upside down, Haller realizes his worst nightmare has already happened: He has put an innocent man behind bars in a previous case.
Haller’s attempts to set things right will put his life and that of the people he loves at risk and take the viewers in a thrilling adventure to the edge of their seats.
A perfectly satisfying, popcorn movie. Do not miss.