Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

davyd-02237 Quite a different type of film, pretty obvious what the plot really is within minutes of the film actually starting. Villain is obvious. The only refreshing bit is within the last few minutes, this I found quite different, but it does come "upon you" pretty quick. This kind of language and the way the U S judicial system appears to work (if this film is anything to go by) make this an "Only once" film and its off to the charity shop.

Bele Torso How did this director get this much talent to work with and waste most of it? The cast is unbelievable and things started well, but took a boring and predictable nosedive fast. You don't give a novice director talent to waste like this! The first 20 minutes looked great. Then a story had to be woven. William H Macy and Bryan Cranston in one movie together? Both of these great actors used about 10% of their potential. That is movie sin. Then the lame camera work. What kind of amateur director does a 360 shot in a courtroom for dramatic appeal? The flashback scenes were horrible. This is a perfect example of how TV dramas on cable make motion pictures look like B movies. Even on a TV show having a biker gang appear out of nowhere would lose the intelligence of an audience. That was done on the Rockford Files in 1974!Brad Furman will not confuse anyone of being compared to Adam Bernstein. Adam directed an episode of Breaking Bad. You didn't think I was going to put him in a class like Christopher Nolan did you?

Niels EV "Mick Haller is a defense lawyer who works out of his Lincoln. When a wealthy Realtor is accused of assaulting a prostitute, Haller is asked to defend him. The man claims that the woman is trying to get some money out of him. But when Haller looks at the evidence against him, he learns that this case might be linked to an old case of his." This movie absolutely butchers the music that has been chosen! None of the tracks gets the attention or time that they deserve, and because of that, they do not at all support the picture. The plot, the scenes and the quality of the actors is all really OK, but the misuse of music destroys my experience. It is hard to understand why a movie with this kind of budget, can't get the use of the soundtrack right!

luke-a-mcgowan I wish I had seen this film back in 2011, so that I could herald the dawn of McConaughey's prime like so many of the critics did. Because this is the film that did it for him, and I'm thrilled to see it was a strong start for him.The Lincoln Lawyer is a magnificent moral film, with enough mindgames, suspense and deceit to more than make up for its unremarkable court room scenes. John Romano's screenplay is full of depth and unfolds so beautifully that I couldn't fault a single turn. Brad Furman's direction is very skilled - the last twenty minutes of the film are flawless and so full of tension I was on the edge of my seat. The whole film looks beautiful, with gorgeous cinematography and production design all around.There's nothing to say about McConaughey other than this was a remarkable turn for him (digging his A Time to Kill drama-legal chops out from under his piles of romcom money). The rest of the cast is also excellent - though the film wastes Bryan Cranston - featuring gorgeous performances from Ryan Phillipe, Marisa Tomei, William H. Macey and Michael Pena. Michael Pena confirms his status as one of the most underrated actors in the profession with just a two scene turn as a man who pleaded guilty to a crime just to avoid the death penalty, despite professing his innocence. The way in which Furman juxtaposed Martinez's first scene, where he's almost howling in fear whilst a cool Haller tries to stay detached, with the second, where a shaved and icy Martinez deflects a noticeably upset Haller's attempts to finally hear his story, is truly masterful. Tomei and McConaghey have great chemistry - to the extent that their divorce stops being believable at times, but the script puts just enough conflict there to stop it being an afterthought.I have to dedicate time just to talk about Ryan Philippe in particular. Whatever he is up to in the script he plays convincingly. A wrongly accused rich kid? A desperate son? Or perhaps a cold-blooded serial killer hiding behind the mask of his polite plea for freedom. Phillipe plays them all with incredible conviction, but there is such fluidity to his performance that it doesn't feel clunky or forced. He began to scare me simply by his appearance on the screen. An incredible, Oscar-worthy performance by Phillipe, which makes me sad that this film never got the attentions of the Academy. I can guarantee that there were a few films that year that could have sat out in categories for this film. Alexander Payne could've sat out for Furman, and Max von Sydow for Phillipe. The Ides of March could've missed out for the screenplay here. The Lincoln Lawyer is technically a legal drama, but the courtroom is just a place for this suspenseful, well-acted moral play to unfold. Its the left bookend for a long McConassance, and that should be reason enough to see it.