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The Lincoln Lawyer

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei, and Ryan Phillipe
Directed By: Brad Furman
Screenplay By: John Romano
Based upon the novel by Michael Connelly

      Matthew McConaughey is a lawyer.  Where's his office?  In the back seat of a Lincoln Town Car.  This dramatic thriller takes viewers for one hell of a ride.
      Mick Haller (Matthew McConaughey) is the Lincoln Lawyer.  He's one of the top criminal defense attorneys around.  He has a bunch of clients, but he's got one case in particular that's bothering him; a high profile client named Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillipe) who comes from a very wealthy family.  He's been accused of murdering a prostitute after a night at the club.  So he hires Mick to be his representative in court.  The problem, he keeps lying to Mick so that he might not get convicted of this crime that he claims not to have committed.  All this lying that Roulet does reminds Mick of a previous case that may actually have some connection to this case.  He tracks down one client, Jesus Martinez (Michael Pena), who has already been incarcerated and interviews him for more information.  His new goal, get Martinez released and put Roulet in after he is convinced that Martinez had nothing to do with the crime that he was accused of, but Roulet is responsible for.
     There are lots of positives of this film.  All the actors deliver strong performances, but especially Matthew McConaughey.  He doesn't always strike me as an impressive actor, but delivers the strongest performance of the film in "The Lincoln Lawyer".  He's the working man trying to make things right while seeming to be rather relaxed about so many things, knowing that he's getting paid to help criminals escape possible jail time.  Phillipe delivers a solid performance as Louis Roulet, however there is one problem I have with his character.  At the beginning of the movie when we are first introduced to his character, he claims to be 32.  He doesn't look 32 at all rather he looks like he just became able to legally drink.  He is excellent at covering up what's truly going on.  He has me fooled when he first meets Haller.  The acting is quite good overall.
     The ending is a little rough.  We don't really know what happens to most of the characters.  Although we only see Martinez for just a few minutes, it would be nice to know what happens to him at the end.  Does he finally get his freedom?  Or is he going to have to spend the rest of his life in prison or on death row?
     "The Lincoln Lawyer" proves to be an excellent film.  It's not completely perfect but is certainly worth seeing.  It's dramatic, and will have you interested the entire time.
My verdict: A-

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