Published: July 08, 2011
The Lincoln Lawyer DVD Review
By Kam Williams 
Matthew McConaughey Crime Thriller Comes to DVD
If you enjoy solving a cerebral, multi-layered mystery, then treat yourself to this cleverly-concealed whodunit starring Matthew McConaughey in the title role. He plays the sort of down on his luck attorney audiences just love to root for, an empathetic underdog in need of redemption.
McConaughey's character, Mick Haller, is a likable lush whose driver's license was suspended for operating under the influence. But because his Ford Lincoln functions both as a means of transportation and as an office, he now has a delinquent client (Laurence Mason) chauffeuring him around L.A. as a way of paying off a legal bill.
Besides booze, Mick's battling his ex-wife, Margaret (Marisa Tomei), not only because they have a child (Mackenzie Aladjem) together, but because, as a criminal prosecutor, she works on the opposite side of the law. Given his generally sleazy clientele, he thanks his lucky stars the day he learns that Louis Roulet (Ryan Philippe), the son of a Beverly Hills real estate tycoon (Frances Fisher), wants to hire him.
The 32 year-old heir had just been arrested for the attempted murder of a woman (Margarita Levieva) he picked up at a trendy nightclub. In a meeting behind bars, Louis claims that he's being framed by a money-hungry liar who staged the attack with a couple of confederates. According to Louis' version of what transpired, someone standing behind the alleged victim's apartment door knocked him unconscious as soon as he entered, and then planted a knife and her blood on him.
Seeing the accused as his ticket to a higher tax bracket, Mick arranges for his release on a million-dollar bond. And he insists on a six-figure retainer for what he reasonably expects to be an open and shut case, given how some surveillance tapes corroborate Louis' alibi for the night in question.
But when the assistant D.A. (Josh Lucas) sticks with his plans to put the defendant on trial, Mick has his trusty private investigator, Frank (William H. Macy), dig a little deeper, only to have the plot thicken deliciously in myriad ways which it would be unfair to divulge. Suffice to say that what ensues is a deceptively-complex game of cat and mouse that's a pure delight to observe as it unravels.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for violence, sexuality and profanity.
Running time: 119 Minutes
Distributor: Lionsgate Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: Deleted scenes, One-on-One with McConaughey and Connelly, Making the Case: Creating The Lincoln Lawyer, and Michael Connelly: At Home on the Road.
To see a trailer for The Lincoln Lawyer, visit: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/thelincolnlawyer/
Or: http://www.youtube.com/user/LionsgateLIVE?v=PzP6qP_WRTw&feature=pyv&ad=10402169509&kw=the%20lincoln%20lawyer
To order a copy of The Lincoln Lawyer on DVD, visit:
B004EPYZP8
Kam Williams is a syndicated film and book critic who writes for 100+ publications. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Online, the African-American Film Critics Association, and the NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee. Contact him through NewsBlaze.
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