What's Wrong With The Lincoln Lawyer?

I was disappointed withThe Lincoln Lawyer after seeing it over the weekend with a girfriend for the first time in the AMC Theatres at Yonge and Dundas. This flick has a lot of twists, but all of them are pretty predictable.

I don't know how popular Michael Connelly's novel was when it first came out in 2005, but the plot, based on this novel, is kind of weak. What is the motivation to kill and why didn't Ryan Phillipe finish all of his victims instead of leaving this one half dead?

Contrary to what most film critics said, I find this flick weak on a number of fronts. The first half of the film is so slow that it can put anybody to sleep. When the movie finally picks up its pace, the vulnerabilities start to appear - one by one. Brad Furman is not a famous director having just got only one movie within his portfolio (The Take) prior to this one. But what was he thinking by using the same bungalow of Ryan Gosling's in the 2007 Fracture as Matthew McConnaughey's house on a Los Angeles hilltop? Did he think that moviegoers would not be able to recognize and remember the same location at all?

Also, movie trailers are supposed to build suspense, but NOT give the entire story line away. For The Lincoln Lawyer, the bikers scene was already in the promotion trailer and we all knew that Phillipe is the bad guy before going to see the movie!

Having said that, this is one of the better movies that Matthew McConaughey has made after his rise to fame. But it's the supporting cast that made this movie a half success - particularly, Shea Whigham who plays an outstanding jailhouse snitch summoned as a court witness. He steals the entire show with just 10 minutes of air time! All the male supporting actors carry the movie - William H. Macy, Josh Lucas, John Leguizamo (I'm dying to see his new one-man show on Broadway!), Michael Pena and Bryan Cranston.

I guess I would have been happier if I didn't have to pay full price for this flick!