NMR: The Lincoln Lawyer

Watching this made me realized how much I had forgotten how enjoyable a straightforward legal thriller can be. The genre has somewhat disappeared from theaters in recent years, likely due to the glut of legal shows on television, but this movie shows that if done right there's no reason why more stories like this can't be made into other films. Based on a novel by Michael Connelly, it stars Matthew McConaughey (in one of his best acting performances in a long time) as a lawyer who does most of his work while being driven around in his Lincoln. He takes on a case defending a rich kid (Ryan Phillipe) who's being accused of beating up a woman. The case takes a number of twists and turns, putting McConaughey's character into quite a pickle. The film is rounded out with a number of excellent supporting actors including Marisa Tomei, William H. Macy, Bryan Cranston, Josh Lucas, and John Leguizamo. Director Brad Furman creates a great mood in the film that shows a gritty side of Los Angeles without making you feel dirty or depressed in the process. If the film has any faults, I would say that it probably has a twist too many as the film tries to wrap things up and it also shortchanges some characters, who likely were more developed and/or explained in the original book. Still this is a very solid thriller that is certainly worth a rental if you never got a chance to check it out when it was in theaters. Rating: **** 1/2