L.A. attorney Mick Haller (Matthew McConaughey), who prefers to work out of a Lincoln, is hired to help a young Beverly Hills playboy (Ryan Phillippe) who stands accused of having beaten a prostitute. There haven’t been many screen adaptations of Michael Connelly’s books, but the success of this one may inspire others. The story, that introduces a case that turns increasingly complicated and becomes a cat-and-mouse game between the lawyer and his client, has its thrills, a sense of humor, and an effective hiphop soundtrack. The movie gives the star his best role since his breakthrough in A Time to Kill (1996) – which, interestingly, was also as a lawyer.
2011-U.S. 118 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Sidney Kimmel, Gary Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg, Scott Steindorff, Richard Wright. Directed by Brad Furman. Screenplay: John Romano. Novel: Michael Connelly. Cast: Matthew McConaughey (Mick Haller), Marisa Tomei (Maggie McPherson), Ryan Phillippe (Louis Roulet), Josh Lucas, William H. Macy, John Leguizamo… Frances Fisher, Bryan Cranston.
Last word: “Music is a really great creative tool for me, for different roles. The soundtrack for Mick Haller was much different than any other soundtrack I’ve had, for any other character. That’s always fun to go through. Brad Furman, the director, had a really good musical sense of where he wanted to go with the film. Early on, I said to him, ‘One of the best things you can do for me is let me have, musically, what you’ve got.’ So, he handed me 40 songs, 30 of which I didn’t know. That helped with the movement, the pace and the approach.” (McConaughey, Collider)
