Whether it’s Lincoln Square or Hyde Park, River North or Rogers Park, one observes the same thing: Chicagoans loitering around Redboxes and Blockbuster Expresses, trying to decide if that film is worth $1. Well, Chicago, agonize no further, because here this reviewer relays if that movie is, indeed, even worth a buck.
In this week’s film, The Lincoln Lawyer, Matthew McConaughey, (A Time to Kill), stars as Mick Haller, a rogue, Los Angeles defense attorney. Haller, who runs his office from the back of a Lincoln Town Car by choice, is very much in charge of his world until he takes a case defending Louis Roulet, (Ryan Phillippe, Cruel Intentions), a spoiled and grown up Beverly Hills rich kid. In Roulet’s assault case, things begin to go south for Haller when he discovers that Roulet has not only been dishonest with him about his innocence, but that he’s way more dangerous than Haller might have thought.
To make matters worse, Roulet has used the law and Haller’s past with a questionably guilty client to manipulate Haller on a much larger scale. Forced to not only find a way to protect himself and his family from a threatening Roulet, Haller must also stay alive long enough to right a wrong against a former client. The drama then centers around Haller’s ability to use his street smarts and legal smarts to expose the truth about Roulet, while upholding his legal oath to protect the unsavory man he now represents.
Based on Michael Connelly’s book of the same name, The Lincoln Lawyer is a thriller that satisfies one’s basic crime drama needs. Overall, the film has a solid story with likeable characters who spew good dialogue. The Lincoln Lawyer additionally serves its genre well by doing a fantastic job at building suspense. Arguably, the film’s only major flaw lies with its less than satisfactory ending. Unrealized punishments, “Is it over now?” moments, and uncertainty about our villain’s future all contribute to a less than stellar ending. But despite it’s mediocre conclusion, The Lincoln Lawyer is still not only a film that can be thoroughly enjoyed, but one that has the ability to convince audiences that a Lincoln Town car can be cooler than both a Maserati and a Range Rover combined. And that fact alone makes this film easily worth your buck.
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