The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly Film adaptation

coldwood92

FIlm
L.A. criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller signs on to defend slick, suave playboy real estate agent Louis Roulet. Roulet has been charged with assault, and his overbearing mother will do anything to clear the son's name. Cost is no issue - Mickey has his first high-paying client in years. Digging into the case, Mickey and P.I. Raul Levin reveal a blacker picture of Roulet's personality and evidence of a sinister past. Another sudden death and new links to a notorious double-homicide, make Mickey question if he's finally in over his head. His pursuit becomes a question of morality and a even a question of his own mortality.

The lawyer has spent all his professional life afraid that he wouldn't recognize innocence if it stood right in front of him. What he should have been on the watch for was evil, evil as pure as a flame.

Book : author Michael Connelly
Mickey Haller has spent all his professional life afraid that he wouldn't recognize innocence if it stood right in front of him. But what he should have been on the watch for was evil.

Haller is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defense attorney who operates out of the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car, traveling between the far-flung courthouses of Los Angeles to defend clients of every kind. Bikers, con artists, drunk drivers, drug dealers — they're all on Mickey Haller's client list. For him, the law is rarely about guilt or innocence — it's about negotiation and manipulation. Sometimes it's even about justice.

A Beverly Hills playboy arrested for attacking a woman he picked up in a bar chooses Haller to defend him, and Mickey has his first high-paying client in years. It is a defense attorney's dream, what they call a franchise case. And as the evidence stacks up, Haller comes to believe this may be the easiest case of his career.

Then someone close to him is murdered and Haller discovers that his search for innocence has brought him face-to-face with evil as pure as a flame. To escape without being burned, he must deploy every tactic, feint, and instinct in his arsenal — this time to save his own life

The setting here is the lawyers mobile "office" (back seat of a Lincoln towncar) involving actual events and locations in L.A. This story emerged and grew after author Connelly once met a real-life "back seat" lawyer

Loved the book! Looking forward to the movie!:D

Michael Connelly saw rough cut of the film and had this to say:

"The movie comes out March 18. A couple days ago I saw an unfinished cut of it and could not be happier. I thought it was very loyal to the story and the character of Mickey Haller. Matthew McConaughey nails him. Those who loved the book will love the movie, I think. Those who don't know the book will love it just the same. The casting and acting is really superb. Like I said, I could not be happier. I'm very excited and can't wait to see what fans of the book think."

Characters and Cast

Mickey Haller - Matthew McConaughey
Louis Roulet - Ryan Phillippe
Maggie McPherson - Marisa Tomei
Frank Levin - William H. Macy
Ted Minton - Josh Lucas
Earl - Laurence Mason
Mary Windsor - Frances Fisher
Val Valenzuela - John Leguizamo
Jesus Martinez - Michael Pena
Reggie Campo - Margarita Levieva
Cecil Dobbs - Bob Gunton
Judge Fullbright - Reggie Baker
Hayley Haller - Mackenzie Aladjem
Detective Sobel - Michaela Conlin
Detective Lankford - Bryan Cranston
Detective Kurlen - Michael Pare

JP Liz V1

Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YRVy75v7fc

hidinginthebush

Has potential, I loved the book anyway. Though I would have preferred to see one of the harry bosch books get made, they always strike me as being more interesting.

Also, did anyone else feel like something was off from the trailer, then notice it was that Kate Hudson isn't co-starring?

marienbad

hidinginthebush wrote: »

Has potential, I loved the book anyway. Though I would have preferred to see one of the harry bosch books get made, they always strike me as being more interesting.

Also, did anyone else feel like something was off from the trailer, then notice it was that Kate Hudson isn't co-starring?

Agree with you there, why oh why has Harry Bosch not been filmed,
The Russell Crowe of L.A.Confidential as Harry ??

Looking forward to this one though.

JP Liz V1

Looks like it is getting a release over here soon enough

kraggy

Surprised there weren't many more posts in this thread.

Went to see this tonight and thought it was brilliant. McConnaghey is excellent. The whole thing was tight and the smaller roles were played really well by lesser known actors.

The pace was pretty much spot on and the dialogue was crackin'.

Thoroughly enjoyed this trip to the pictures.

Savman

+1
A great watch indeed.

Sad Professor

I had a couple of hours to kill today and it was either this or Unknown. Going to see Unknown would have meant hanging around for another 30 minutes, and I was too lazy to travel further afield, so I went to see this.

It's a decent court room drama, but the filmmaking is very bland. Entertaining enough though.

stevenmu

Saw it last night and thought it was very enjoyable, normally I don't like McConnaghey at all but he was pretty good in this. It's a long time since I read the book but I think it's pretty accurate to it and a good adaptation.

ayatollah

mcconaghy can be a good actor when he wants to be but often its too easy for him to just play himself on screen and just churn out rubbish rom-coms.

looks decent - some really good actors in it - macy, leguizamo, pena, tomei.

on a side note - whats going on with his hair?

didn't he famously have a hair transplant?

be looking for me money back there matthew

Theboinkmaster

Saw this at the weekend - just ok, nothing special IMHO

OutlawPete

Seen this tonight and thought it was very enjoyable. Some elements of the story were asking a bit much of the viewing audience to swallow but overall, a decent enough thriller.

slave1

Caught this last night, surprised it has a relatively low profile, some fine acting by the 'minor' characters and I've seen much worse courtroom dramas, I thought it was deffo worth seeing and a film I'd recommend to friends. Given the twists/turns won't comment on the storyline itself which became slightly confusing once or twice if you had tuned out at some stage. In summary, some fine acting/casting and script, see it.
In passing, not sold on the quality of the print, bit '70's'.

temply

good little movie i thought - excellent casting with philipe and mcconaughey

love michael connellys books and thought this was a reasonably good adaptation.

well worth a watch

mikemac

Good film. Pretty enjoyable.

It's a few years since I read the book so I'd forgotten most of it and the film is definitely worth watching regardless if you're read the book or not

misty floyd

I just watched this movie and was enjoying it until the last half hour. I just thought it got a bit silly and unbelievable. On a side note:

how the hell could the prosecuter get a convicted criminal to testify in court and nobody knowing about it.

wouldnt happen. 6.5/10 for me. Worth renting out all the same.

Keelan11

It's a decent film, blend between smart and obvious. I would recommend turning the film off about 10min before the end though. It's as if the director had a panic attack and tried to cram in 40min of action into the last 10min.