The Lincoln Lawyer

The success of The Lincoln Lawyer largely lies in the casting of Matthew McConaughey in the lead role. Both in terms of his appearance and his character acting, he perfectly fits the image of a cunning and experienced lawyer who has equally good relationships in the justice system as well as in the underworld. The direction by Brad Furman is also worth mentioning, as he has shown here that when he wants to, he can make a film at a high level and with the use of modern film techniques. However, in my opinion, the script is quite average and it does not avoid clichés or improbable errors. Overall impression: 60%. (02/20/2013)

The Lincoln Lawyer is a nice chill-out flick with 1990s stars, especially Matthew McConaughey, who reprises his most remarkable role of that period (the attorney in A Time to Kill). Too bad that the script oversimplifies some of the plot twists and the connections between them, opting to look cool at the expense of being realistic. That drags the film down, weakens its impact as a thriller and buries any potential for drama. Because of this, it ends up being nothing more than “cool fun”. (08/11/2011)

Ever since I was a little kid, I lived with the belief that court cases are the sort of scenes that will never get fun for me. There were moments that pleasantly surprised me, but I never expected to be blown away by a movie based on court cases. And that’s mainly because it is about a lawyer. The lawyer is portrayed by Matthew McConaughey, who was probably born for this profession, because wherever he’s appeared as a lawyer, he’s always acted it out so well that I just kept nodding at a job well done. Matt’s simply good at that. And once you run into this sort of movie about everything that would convince you that this is a five-star experience right at first glance, it’s simply worth watching, because nothing is more surprising than a movie that you didn’t expect much of yet it ends up deserving those five stars. Not only for everything I already wrote about, but also for the gorgeous and natural atmosphere and especially the ending that created a movie closure more beautiful than anything I’ve seen in a long time. The Lincoln Lawyer has a great movie soul and I admit that I’d almost forgotten what that movie soul looks like. And here it is. (04/23/2014)

From beginning to end, an extremely suspenseful film, which shows that it was born in the head of a single good writer and not in the skulls of three or more Hollywood screenwriters. Thoughtful, surprising, interesting, great. Matthew McConaughey is quite convincing in yet another lawyer role (the top-notch Amistad, the miserable A Time to Kill), the cast of other actors and actresses is flawless, and the rich plot and brisk direction make the two hours fly by like nothing. (08/04/2012)

Who would ever have thought Matthew McConaughey could act so well. Without thinking twice, I rate the role of Mick Haller as his best. Ryan Phillippe was also an excellent choice with the first role that suits him in a long time. A quality script with a successful plot. 4.5 stars. After much thought, I'm leaning towards a higher rating because the film as a whole made a good impression on me. (12/11/2011)