The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

The Lincoln Lawyer turned out to be a very surprising film. For starters, it has so many twists and turns you could easily make a trilogy of films (Hopefully we'll see more cases in the future). Secondly, and most important of all, Matthew McConaughey is quite good. Actually, no scarp that, he is very good.

For anyone who's a big fan of Family Guy, you should remember one episode in particular where we see Stewie tear McConaughey a new one for having one of the worst careers in Hollywood. The audience laughed because we all knew it was true. Matt has been in such turkeys as Fool's Gold, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and Failure to Launch. But in Lincoln Lawyer McConaughey is fantastic. Maybe it's time he ditched the Rom-Coms and start making a few more serious films.

McConaughey plays Mick Haller who runs a law office out of his car. He's not your typical high powered lawyer but is a shrewd defence lawyer who's always got results. Rich guy Louis Roulet (Ryan Philippe) calls on Haller when he's accused of attempted rape and attempted murder. Haller takes on the case but soon realises that the case isn't as simple as he first thought when he finds that one of his old clients Jesus Martinez (Michael Pena) is somehow involved.

Directed with great style by Brad Furman, Lincoln Lawyer is the type of film that could of been made in the 70's. It's a big movie star film with an outstanding supporting cast playing a great selection of characters. With McConaughey and Philippe we also get William H Macy, Marisa Tomei, Bryan Cranston, Micheal Pena and Josh Lucas. As I said previously, McConaughey fits the role like a glove. His natural easygoing charm suits the role perfectly but  he can also slip into something much deeper and darker when the secrets start to unravel. Philippe embodies the essence of the spoilt rich kid who thinks he can control everything. All the supporting cast do well but special mention must go to Josh Lucas who is excellent as the rival prosecuting attorney.

This is only the second of Michael Connelly's novels to be made into a film (the last being Clint Eastwood's 2002 flop Blood Work). Hopefully we'll see more from Connelly's other crime novels in the near future.

Lincoln Lawyer is a solid crime film with great performances all round, especially from McConaughey who has never been doubted as a good actor. He's just made some terrible film choices.