When my wife and I arrived at Union Square on opening night to see The Lincoln Lawyer there were studio people desperately handing out audience surveys – never a good sign. But in this case, it wasn’t the movie that was the problem but instead the utterly bizarre reality of the modern movie-goer’s ever decaying taste. The theater was pretty empty, and it became clear to us that the studio people were in fact trying to figure out what the hell to do with this movie: a smart, suspenseful courtroom drama with big stars and no special effects – in other words, disaster.

In the 1980’s a film like this would have been a big hit, and people would have been talking about it. Now, if it’s not Transformers, forget it. I’m not sure what has happened over the last ten years, but it’s not good. Before the movie started we saw a preview for The Conspirator, a period thriller with fabulous actors which is having trouble getting any distribution because no one wants to see it (it looked quite good, by the way). If The Conspirator came out in the 1980’s there would have been Oscar buzz for crying out loud!

Anyway, The Lincoln Lawyer is a fun and entertaining movie. Manohla Dargis was surprised that Matthew McConaughey can act a little, but anyone that has ever seen Lone Star(1995) will realize that he is actually pretty decent, with a good screen presence, at least in intense, semi-comic cowboy-type roles. Hell, I even thought he was pretty good in Contact (he was the best thing in the movie, that’s for sure.) In The Lincoln Lawyer, McConaughey does a great job embodying his character with swagger and confidence, and making you like him while at the same time showing his many flaws.

Ryan Phillippe is getting the better of his break up with Reese Witherspoon in one way: he is much better at picking movies. Plus, he has grown on me, going from the punk in Cruel Intentions to a mature actor who takes a pretty wide range of roles and always brings something interesting to them. He is solid here as the insane rich brat who is protected from his own crimes by his family and their money. William H Macey is not too distracting in his role as the investigator, and Marisa Tomei is, as usual, wonderful, even if she does not have that much to do. The supporting actors, particularly Michael Peña, John Leguizamo, and Margarita Levieva are really strong, and their great scenes help the movie a lot.

The Lincoln Lawyer has a good story (not great, but good) with some nice twists. The dialog is actually pretty decent by today’s standards. I think the director is a little over-fond of putting the camera right in people’s faces to show “intensity” but that is easily forgiven. It has a very satisfying ending. I recommend it!