Barrett’s Review: ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ is an Entertaining, Well-Executed Legal Thriller

GRADE: B+

I was cautiously optimistic before seeing The Lincoln Lawyer, starring Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Phillipe and Marisa Tomei earlier this week. I absolutely LOVE legal thrillers in all shapes and forms. Any film featuring large portions of the story set in a courtroom trial I am a complete sucker for. So that aspect had me jacked for this film. But then I took into account the actors involved. McConaughey CAN BE a great actor, but has made some seriously questionable choices over the last five or so years, appearing in mostly terrible romantic comedies – 90% of which seem to feature Kate Hudson. And then there’s Ryan Phillipe, who is just awful most of the time. But upon exiting the theater of our screening, I was pleasantly surprised by The Lincoln Lawyer and thoroughly entertained by it’s refreshing and captivating Hollywood crime story.

In the film, McConaughey fantastically portrays Mick Haller, a suave and ruthless defense attorney who makes his living keeping criminals ON the streets. Haller firmly dismisses the sentimental perception of “guilty” and “not guilty” as distractions in his quest to get his high-paying dirty clients out of jail. He doesn’t care if his clients did what they did, as long as they pay. It isn’t until he’s asked to defend trust-fund baby Louis Roulet (Phillipe) who’s accused of assaulting a prostitute that his entire view of right vs. wrong gets flipped upside down.

The performances in this film are MOSTLY fantastic. McConaughey reminds us of what a great actor he can be, crafting a truly captivating anti-hero, especially when he’s in the courtroom. Tomei brings her usual A-game as Haller’s prosecuting ex-wife Maggie (whom he has a daughter with), with her lovely and utterly charming display of moral grounding. I might add that she still looks damn fine too, at age 47, especially during the steamy sex scene with her ex-husband; which complicates his personal life even more. William H. Macy provides some great comic relief as Haller’s wise-cracking private investigator, Frank – just a really funny and charming performance by the veteran character actor. Unfortunately, as stated previously, the same cannot be said by Ryan Phillipe’s performance as the suspect on trial. I mean, we’re not at all supposed to like his character. He’s a cocky, entitled douchebag, character attributes of which he displays perfectly. However, every other aspect of acting (i.e. delivery of dialogue, display of emotions) is embarrassingly bad. Just terrible. There’s a scene where Roulet is on the stand, pleading to the jury for sympathy of his claimed set up, and it’s really painful to watch. It’s atrocious. An element that could have elevated this film from really good to great, if another capable actor was cast instead.

Another aspect of the film that took it down a notch was a couple “shocking reveals” during the third act. There’s a lot of twists and turns in this story, most of which are executed in a thrilling fashion. However, as the film reaches it’s climax, there are a couple “WTF?” turns that the story takes which made my eye-brows raise and eye balls roll simultaneously – which deflated the impact of its conclusion. Its also about 20 minutes too long. “Wait, it’s still going?” I asked myself after the perfect moment to end the film came and gone. Oh well, what can you do?

Overall, The Lincoln Lawyer was an impressive and refreshing legal thriller that’s definitely worth the price of admission.

What Should You Do? See it.