The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

3/5

Michael Connelly's The Lincoln Lawyer is an unexpectedly thrilling crime/courtroom drama. Mick Haller (McConaughey) is the titular lawyer who takes on the case of Louis Roulet (Phillippe), a wealthy playboy accused of assaulting a prostitute. Roulet is unwilling to take any deals or plead anything besides not guilty, so Haller considers it a challenge worthy of his skills. However, Haller discovers some information that makes him doubt Roulet's honesty and innocence, which ends up putting him in quite the pickle as he debates breaking attorney-client privilege.

The opening credits were well-done, evoking an authentic 70's feel that unfortunately was never carried through to the rest of the film. Likewise, the story started with enormous potential, but it quickly whittled its way down to the predictable and expected. Connelly's writing is exciting, but not particularly original or mind-blowing. The pacing unfortunately turned out to be one of the movie's weaker suits. The characters' motivations were revealed too early, which just left you waiting for events to unfold instead of having you sit on the edge of your seat wondering who was telling the truth and who was not.

All in all, the movie has its ups and downs, which balances it out to about 3 stars. McConaughey does a fine job as the lead, but there's something about him I just don't like in this film. I think it's his gaunt eyes and cachectic face that ooze a sense of unease and distrust. His character might be a little sleazy, but I don't think I'm supposed to find him so eerily unsettling. Some of the supporting actors are spectacular (viz. William H. Macy) while others are not (viz. Ryan Phillippe). For a mindless piece of entertainment, The Lincoln Lawyer is decent, but that's about all I'll give it.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1189340/

Breach (2007)

4/5

Breach is a startlingly terrifying character study of Russian spy Robert Hanssen. The genius behind this movie is the subtlety with which his hidden layers are revealed; it isn't until the end of the film that you realize what kind of a monster this man is. And wow, the final shot is ridiculously powerful--an incredible ending to an incredible movie.

Chris Cooper's acting was spectacular, on par with his performance in American Beauty. Laura Linney was also fantastic, aided by an excellent script that had witty dialogue at times and powerful emotions at others. The directing and editing were also good, surprisingly so. The rather hackneyed and trite montage where they reveal Hanssen's betrayals was pulled off with ease and had an astoundingly powerful effect on me. It was as if I were in Eric O'Neill's place, learning of all of this for the first time and being shocked into submission by the flood of information of someone I used to respect.

Ryan Phillippe's acting was not great, but not bad either. A better choice might have been Hayden Christensen. The cinematography and music did nothing more than merely get the job done--they didn't stand out in any way. Also, there might be some differences of expectations about this movie. One thing that might turn people off to this movie is that the reasons for Hanssen's espionage are never really investigated in depth, although the movie never promises or suggests that it will do such a thing. There wasn't much in the way of action. In fact, the movie was quite chatty (but I love good dialogue). In the end though, none of these negatives really bother me at all--this is a great movie and highly recommended.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0401997/