Book to Movie: The Lincoln Laywer

Summary: In the gripping thriller “The Lincoln Lawyer,” Matthew McConaughey stars as Michael “Mick” Haller, a slick, charismatic Los Angeles criminal defense attorney who operates out of the back of his Lincoln Continental sedan. Having spent most of his career defending petty, gutter- variety criminals, Mick unexpectedly lands the case of a lifetime: defending a rich Beverly Hills playboy (Ryan Phillippe) who is accused of attempted murder. However, what initially appears to be a straightforward case with a big money pay-off swiftly develops into a deadly match between two masters of manipulation and a crisis of conscience for Haller. ~amazon.com

Review: It's a distant memory I have of reading The Lincoln Lawyer, but I definitely remember not liking Mickey Haller. So, when I heard Matthew McConaughey was playing him I thought it was solid cast since for me he has a bit of a slime ball aspect to him. I don't remember the details of the story from the book but I thought there were some changes to the plot. For instance, I don't recall Mick and Maggie getting along so well; in fact I think it was pretty much the opposite. They only thing they agreed about was their daughter and even then they fought. I definitely remember the biker gang and was happy that they kept that in the movie.

Ryan Phillippe is perfectly cast as Louis and plays the part extremely well. Marisa Tomei is a great casting job as Maggie McPhearson and I enjoyed William H. Macy as Frank Levine.

Perhaps it is because I've gone deeper into the Lincoln Lawyer books but now I can see past Mick's facade and I know there's more to him than just getting his clients off whether or not he believes in their innocence or not. I'm guessing that's what makes a great defense lawyer, the ability to get a client off regardless of the case stacked against them.

It wasn't until mid-way through the movie that I thought it picked up but before that I thought it was a bit slow going.

I am wondering if this will be the first of Mickey Haller movies since there are more books. I'd love to see them add Harry Bosch to the cast!

Final Take: 3/5