Mick Haller (Matthew Mconaughey; Tropic Thunder, Failure To Launch) is a big shot prosecution lawyer with a heart of gold who bends the rules to meet his needs. His ex wife, Maggie (Marisa Tomei; Cyrus, The Wrestler) is a defence lawyer with whom he still has a flirtatious relationship with and his crack team of associates led by Frank (William H. Macy; Wild Hogs, Thank You For Smoking) help him on some of Beverly Hills' highest profile cases.
Guest star of the week (sorry I mean the accused) Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillipe; MacGruber, Franklyn) is a rich heir to a real estate firm who has been brought up on charges of physical and sexual abuse against a known prostitute. Roulet turns to Haller to help him get off and Haller can't help but get stuck in.
The Lincoln Lawyer, based on a book by Michael Connelly is a very good story, engaging and complicated, but not too much that you get lost or lose interest altogether and is probably more engaging than most movies being released this year. It would make a great television series if the right stories kept coming (apparently Michael Connelly has written several books about Mick Haller) and with the success of tv series' based on books such as Dexter and True Blood then it seem like a likeable and manageable formula for television. However on the big screen it feels like just that, and that's the problem.
Matthew Mconaughey is very likeable as Mick Haller, hard to do as the role of a prosecution lawyer may not be the most likeable choice for a movie's protagonist, but he pulls it off well by being charming, funny as well as gritty and a determined leading man.
Marisa Tomei is good and believable as the now single mother, put upon by her ass of an ex husband, but who she obviously still loves and the chemistry between the two plays well. William H Macy is a good supporting man, sadly underused on screen time but in my opinion always a good presence.
Ryan Phillipe has the best role though, Haller's client is not all he seems and his performance is both cool, calm and sinister all at the same time. With a small supporting cast adding to the main characters and the story, it enriches the movie as much as the story and complements the rest of the cast. John Leguizamo (Gamer, Ice Age: Dawn of The Dinosaurs) plays a small but integral part (if you keep tuned in to the plot) and Michael Pena (Battle; Los Angeles, Observe and Report) makes a pivotal, albeit stereotypical cameo.
All in all The Lincoln Lawyer may not be anything new as far as the big screen is concerned and unfortunately it doesn't pay off as a cinematic effort, this may be due to script, direction or any number of reasons but it just doesn't sit well in the cinema. If however you are tired of special effects epics and want an intelligent storyline that appeals to adults with a likeable cast and characters then The Lincoln Lawyer may not be so bad. However it may be best to wait until it comes out on television because this is where I'd imagine it to do best. It would work very well as a series and judging by the direction that most of the cast are going with their careers, a steady job in television may just be the right move for them.
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