At the Movies: 'Lincoln Lawyer' role acquits McConaughey

By Senitra Horbrook

Matthew McConaughey should really consider taking on some serious roles more often. He seems especially adept at playing lawyers. Take, for example, his last lawyer role, A Time to Kill, way back in 1996. It's a lot more entertaining than the shirtless, failure-to-launch, surfer-dude types that have identified him as an actor lately.

The Lincoln Lawyer is McConaughey's best role in years. Adapted from the 2005 novel by Philadelphia-born writer Michael Connelly, the courtroom drama is interesting, with lots of good twists and turns. Surprisingly, it is made better by the presence of McConaughey. Played by a different actor, Mickey Haller probably would have been a slimy, bottom-feeding defense attorney, but McConaughey's laid-back Southern charm makes it easy to root for Mickey to succeed.

Haller, who will defend anyone who can pay him, conducts business from the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car. He thinks he has hit the jackpot when approached to defend Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe), the playboy son of a wealthy real estate agent. Roulet has been accused of assaulting a young woman but swears he's innocent (don't they all?). Roulet has a convincing story too, but district attorney Ted Minton (Josh Lucas) is ready and waiting to poke holes in that story.

As the movie gallops along, Mickey realizes he has a moral conundrum on his hands, and the pesky lawyer/client confidentiality agreement is in the way of making sure justice is served. Mickey appears to never have cared much before about guilt or innocence, just as long as he can keep the client out of jail or plea bargain for a short sentence.

But the Roulet case has some eerie reminders of an old case where the client also swore of his innocence, and has Mickey questioning his ethics.

Marisa Tomei plays Maggie McPherson, Mickey's ex-wife. I'm guessing Maggie had a much larger part in the book; her main role in the movie is just being a sounding board for Mickey. William H. Macy also has a too-small supporting role as Frank Levin, Mickey's investigator. His time on-screen is short, but memorable. Michael Pena has a small but important role as an ex-client of Mickey's.

As the villain, Phillippe accurately portrays the cold, uncaring character of Louis Roulet. Phillippe pretty much seems that way in all his roles, so it didn't seem like much of a stretch for him.

Only the final act ventures into preposterous territory. By that point, it felt like the movie had three different endings but the filmmakers couldn't pick just one, so the movie kept going just when you thought it was over. That tactic may work well in a 400-page novel, but it felt a bit too much for a two-hour movie.

I'd call The Lincoln Lawyer only semi-predictable, which is a good thing in a courtroom drama since the genre is usually full of clichés and marred by formula. Sure, if you pay close enough attention you can figure out what's going to happen a few minutes before it actually happens. But it's best to just sit back and let the movie's twists surprise you.

Movie Grade: B+

Movie Grade: B+