Sunday, March 27, 2011

The Lincoln Lawyer - See it!



If you're a fan of well written crime thrillers as I am you'll like "The Lincoln Lawyer",now in theaters. Based on a book of the same name by author Michael Connelly,this movie is an entertaining,well acted film.Well acted and Matthew McConaughey in the same sentence?,yes. McConaughey shines as defense attorney Mick Haller who operates out of...a first generation Lincoln Town Car.When I first saw McConaughey as the lead I thought, damn, another good book ruined by the movie. But McConaughey works in this role and benefits tremendously from a great script,cinematography,soundtrack,direction and yes, his own acting abilities. I liked McConaughey's performances in "A Time to Kill", "Frailty" and "Tropic Thunder",but in almost every other movie he has made its just the same character: laid back guy who takes his shirt off. His performance in "The Lincoln Lawyer" is great. The movie works.This gritty legal thriller is McConaughey's best acting in years, probably ever.
If you like crime novels, The Lincoln Lawyer should be on your reading and movie list.
Author Michael Connelly is an American crime fiction writer.Connelly has won every major award given to mystery writers, including the Edgar Award.The only other Connelly book to make it to the big screen was the horrible flop "Blood Work", a good book with one of his characters, former FBI agent Terry McCaleb,  portrayed by Clint Eastwood. The screenplay and casting for that movie was craptastic. Thankfully the Lincoln Lawyer stops that record in its tracks and hopefully paves the way for more Connelly books to make it as feature films. Remember the name Harry Bosch. He is  Connelly's best known fictional character and should be portrayed in a movie version very soon.
The supporting cast deserves credit here as well. Maggie, Mick Haller's divorced wife played by the beautiful Marisa Tomei.

Louis, the rich, scheming defendant by Ryan Phillippe, Watch him in  "The Way of the Gun"!
Ted, the clueless prosecutor by Josh Lucas
Val , the seedy bail bondsman by John Leguizamo
Jesus, the wrongfully convicted by Michael Pena, a guy who has 3 bad haircuts in this film.

Det. Lankford played by Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston.

If you haven't seen AMC's Breaking Bad, check it out on Netflix, it is a great show that is hugely underrated.
Frank by one of my favorites, William H. Macy.



Even Country music star Trace Adkins has a bit part that plays well:



See this one in theaters while you still can, and get your hands on some of Michael Connelly's books - Good reading! Check out the trailer:


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