Film Review: The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

Michael Connelly can be considered one of the most successful authors of the crime genre in contemporary American literature, at least judging by the willingness of Hollywood studios to adapt his novels for big and small screewn. This is evidenced by the series of novels featuring the hard-boiled Los Angeles police detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch, which had the honour of serving as the basis for Bosch, Amazon's first original drama series. The Bosch novels share the same fictional universe with another series by Connelly, whose protagonist is lawyer and Bosch's half-brother, Michael "Mickey" Haller. The Lincoln Lawyer, the first novel in this series, was adapted into a 2011 film.

The titular protagonist, portrayed by Matthew McConaughey, earned the nickname "The Lincoln Lawyer" because he prefers to conduct his business from the back seat of a Lincoln Navigator driven by his loyal assistant Earl (played by Laurence Mason) rather than in the office. Most of his clients are dealers, bikers, murderers, rapists, prostitutes, and similar lowlifes whom Haller successfully keeps from prison, creating numerous enemies among law enforcement. However, his ex-wife Margaret McPherson (played by Marisa Tomei), who works on the opposite side as a prosecutor, still considers him a good friend. Haller's reputation ultimately leads him to an atypical client for his career thus far—Louis Roulet (played by Ryan Philippe), a relatively young man who has become wealthy trading real estate alongside his mother Mary Windsor (played by Frances Fisher). Roulet is accused of beating and attempting to rape Regina "Reggie" Campo (played by Margarita Levieva), a young woman he met one night at a club. Roulet refuses any plea deal with the prosecution, insisting he is completely innocent and that he is a victim of a setup designed to bring millions to the young woman in a future civil lawsuit. Haller diligently sets to work and, with the help of his experienced investigator Frank Levin (played by William H. Macy), begins to unravel the case but eventually uncovers some uncomfortable truths about his own professional past.

John Roman's screenplay does not offer anything particularly new; viewers will not see anything regarding plot or relatively predictable resolution that they haven't encountered in countless other legal dramas and thrillers. What elevates The Lincoln Laweyer above average is primarily its specific atmosphere and style, significantly enhanced by the direction of the relatively unknown Brad Furman. The film largely resembles the dark and often depressing crime thrillers of the 1970s, where protagonists on the sunlit streets of Los Angeles frequently engaged in Sisyphean struggles against a corrupt system where crime goes unpunished. This is supported not only by a rather effective soundtrack dominated by music from the last decades of the 20th century but also by Matthew McConaughey's commendable performance, as he once again attempts and succeeds in proving that he is not just a pretty face but also a top-tier actor. In this instance, he achieves a solid transformation from a morally ambiguous antihero with lawyerly "scum" stereotypes to a true fighter for justice who genuinely seeks to rid the world of evil. Ryan Philippe, on the other hand, does not fare well in yet another role as a WASP villain that has turned into a cliché for his career. Conversely, the rest of the cast delivered more than commendable performances in small but impactful roles; thus, The Lincoln Lawyer, although far from being something that should be considered a genre classic, represents a rare example of a feature film that maintains quality within the frameworks established by what we have come to expect from television's Golden Age over the past decade. In 2022 saga of Mickey Haller was continued with Netflix series starring Manuel Garcia-Rulfo.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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