'Lincoln Lawyer' a sleazy, breezy tale
If you think “The Lincoln Lawyer” refers to Abraham Lincoln, forget that.
Mick Haller hardly qualifies as an honest lawyer.
He's shifty, manipulative, selfish, slick and oily.
The Lincoln he admires the most is the Continental his chauffeur drives while he rides in the back seat, working on dockets of nickel-chaser cases involving some of Los Angeles' lowest-class denizens.
But when Haller becomes convinced that a massive injustice has been perpetrated — and that he has played an inadvertent role in it — some small spark of decency ignites and the attorney sets out to re-balance the scales of justice.
If “The Lincoln Lawyer” feels vaguely familiar, it should. We've seen many other courtroom dramas similar to it. Originality of plot isn't its strong lawsuit.
Neither is the meat-and-potatoes direction by Brad “The Take” Furman, who treats this movie as a glorified made-for-cable project bolstered by an A-list cast and by gimmicky camera movements that inspire the use of Dramamine.
Furman's drama comes from the best-selling book by former L.A. Times and Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel crime reporter Michael Connelly, who got the idea for his mobile defense attorney after striking up a conversation with a real “Haller” during a baseball game.
The drama also highlights an actor factor: Matthew McConaughey, who puts the ease in the sleaze as the money-grubbing Haller.
McConaughey, who first popped up on Hollywood's major radar for a similar attorney role in 1996's “A Time to Kill,” has always possessed a wrong-side-of-the-tracks persona lurking under the surface of his characters, no matter how nice or polished they appeared to be.
In Haller, McConaughey lets his id do all the heavy lifting. For him, the law is strictly a cash machine, and he keeps the machine busy, pushing minor cases through it with greedy, dispassionate uncaring.
Until he meets Louis Roulet.
Roulet, played by Ryan Phillippe, is a rich playboy accused of trying to rape and kill a prostitute. His mother (Frances Fisher) ardently defends her son. For a while, Haller believes that the crime could just be a setup to cash in on Roulet's wealth.
But, as we all suspect — especially after we see the trailer in which William H. Macy's detective Frank Levin says, “This kid feels wrong to me!” — things are not exactly what they seem.
The Roulet case has great ramifications for one of Haller's earlier courtroom losses, a murder case involving Jesus Martinez (Chicago's Michael Pena in a polished, engaging performance), who continues to protest his innocence.
Marisa Tomei handles the thankless role of Maggie McPherson, Haller's ex-wife, mother of his daughter, and a prosecuting attorney for no perceivable purpose here. Maggie's principle job is apparently to give Haller some personal history and provide him with a family to protect from threatened harm.
Reliable character actors Josh Lucas and John Leguizamo prop up the supporting cast, respectively as a smart, dogged prosecutor and a bottom-feeding bail bondsman.
“The Lincoln Lawyer” has the feel of a pilot for an intended franchise (it is the first Haller book in a series by Connelly), and that could be a good thing.
Despite minor drawbacks, “The Lincoln Lawyer” is a remarkably entertaining murder mystery/courtroom drama combo with flash, trash, cash and slash.
Plus a stellar turn by McConaughey, who unleashes his inner trailer-park persona to play one of the most complex, realistic movie attorneys in recent memory.
<b>“The Lincoln Lawyer”</b>
★ ★ ★
<b>Starring: </b>Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe, William H. Macy, Josh Lucas
<b>Directed by: </b>Brad Furman
<b>Other: </b>A Lionsgate release. Rated R for language, sexual situations, violence. 119 minutes.