Calling big-screen legal thriller “The Lincoln Lawyer” the best TV pilot I’ve seen in a while really isn’t meant as a putdown — the truth is, there’s more good stuff on the tube these days than in theaters, especially at this time of the year.
Matthew McConaughey keeps his shirt on and shows he can actually act when he feels like it as Mick Haller, a smooth- talking, scruples-free criminal lawyer who makes a handsome living defending the scum of Los Angeles out of the back of his limousine.
One day a bail bondsman (John Leguizamo) gives Mick a referral to a more upscale client: Louis (Ryan Phillippe), a Beverly Hills trust funder accused of trying to kill a prostitute. Mick is so overjoyed at this windfall that he briefly convinces himself that for once, he’s actually defending an innocent client.
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Not only is Louis as guilty as the rest, but Mick quickly discovers he’s probably responsible for a murder for which Mick persuaded an earlier client (Michael Peña), who was innocent, to accept a lengthy prison sentence as part of a plea bargain.
Given his lawyer-client relationship with Louis, this presents our hero with an ethical conundrum that gets even more complicated when an associate turns up dead, quite possibly at the client’s hand, leaving Mick as the prime suspect.
Based on an airport page turner by Michael Connelly, this is a slickly entertaining if not especially memorable movie filled with twists that director Brad Furman (“The Take”) and screenwriter John Romano (his rap sheets includes “L.A. Law” and “Monk,” as well as “Nights in Rodanthe”) sometimes telegraph well in advance.
It goes down as smoothly as a milkshake thanks to an impressive cast: William H. Macy as Mick’s private investigator, Josh Lucas as the assistant district attorney unlucky enough to be prosecuting Louis and Bryan Cranston of “Breaking Bad” as a police detective itching to put Mick away for the associate’s murder.
Second-billed Marisa Tomei has little to do but look sexy as Mick’s assistant-DA ex-wife while Frances Fisher may have a bit too much opportunity to chew scenery as Louis’ overprotective mom.
A tad overlong at just under two hours, “The Lincoln Lawyer” will be right at home on HBO. Let’s hope the channel picks it up as a series; anything that keeps McConaughey from showing off his abs has my support.