Brandon at Random Reviews

I remember hearing about this movie when it came out, but it ended up taking a back burner spot to a variety of other flicks I wanted to watch while I was in college. I found it on HBO Max today, and it left me in a unique position to be able to see it semi-free. I like to keep you guys in the know about all of the goings on of my movie journeys to help set the scene.

Matthew McConaughey plays the titular “Lincoln Lawyer” real name Mick Haller who operates his 1-man law firm out of his Lincoln sedan (don’t ask me what model, I don’t know shit about cars for the most part). Or at least I guess, they don’t really spell that out, but we just see him in his car a lot. Of course this is a bit of a courtroom drama so we kick things off with him getting a new case. He is to be defending a poor little rich guy Louis Roulet (played by Ryan Phillippe, quite well because let’s be honest, that is his usual type) accused of raping and assaulting a prostitute. William H. Macy plays McConaughey’s investigator Frank Levin, and he is shagging it up with the long hair here which is neat to see. As is often the case when a movie is from a lawyer’s perspective, he has to figure out if if his client really did it regardless of what he’s being led to believe.

This cast is fucking amazing to be completely honest. You’ve got McConaughey, Macy, and Phillippe as I mentioned, but it also has Marisa Tomei as McConaughey’s attractive ex/baby mama, Bryan Cranston at the height of his Breaking Bad powers, John Leguizamo, Michael Peña, and Josh Lucas…oh and country artist Trace Adkins who is pretty good, albeit brief. It’s pretty solid, gang. They’re all firing on all cylinders, well-oiled machine type stuff.

The story gets pretty interesting, the excitement does indeed build throughout the course of the film and leaves you wanting more. I feel like I always say this, but there is a lot of great chemistry here between the actors embedded in their performances. Nobody comes up short or feels like they’re holding back. There’s a bit of our protagonist hearing the typical “you’re a piece of shit because you’re a lawyer” stuff that I think is well written and creates great tension. We also get to see McConaughey pull some tricks to help himself out along the way.

All in all, I’d say The Lincoln Lawyer was a pretty entertaining watch, I wish I’d checked it out sooner but there’s only so much time in the day. Check it out, it’s on HBO Max.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2