Big Screen Blurb: The Lincoln Lawyer

There’s really just one thing to say: “Hooray for Hollywood”. I say this for two reasons. First, I know a few attorneys and none of them look like Matthew McConaughey; and second, The Lincoln Lawyer may be one of the best legal flicks since Michael Clayton.


Mick Haller (McConaughey) is a defense attorney who has swapped a skyscraper office in downtown LA for a black Lincoln. Mick is slick. He’s in good with the right people and knows how to work the hellions, all while getting way more than his fair share. Yeah, I know, typical attorney, right? But there might be a smidgeon more to Mick Haller. He might actually care a little bit; that is, as long as there is something in it for him. What did you expect? After all, he is an attorney.

Haller takes on a high profile assault case. His client, Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe…yes Hollywood continues to deliver) is accused of battering a prostitute—a situation the wealthy Roulet family would just as soon keep low profile. Soon, however, this case is about much more than assault as Mick quickly moves from behind the defense desk and is close to snuggling up next to his client on the stand. Many twists and turns ensue and yadayadayada we’re witness to a very entertaining cerebral collision.

I’ll go with 4.0 Stars. I love a movie you have to think through—especially when the ride is as entertaining as this one. The Lincoln Lawyer is chock full of good twists with characters that augment a good storyline. Yes, this flick contains thoroughly interesting characters from Mick and Louis to Mick’s wife and LA District Attorney Maggie (Maria Tormei) and his investigator, Frank (William Macy). Fair warning, however, it is a plot that requires you to dig in and hold on tight to follow—infrequent bathroom breaks at best if you want to follow a pretty intricate plot. Don’t get me wrong. It’s follow-able…after all, I managed to keep up and that should tell us all something.

The Lincoln Lawyer is based on Michael Connelly’s novel and something tells me it’s not a one and done production. I think we’ll be seeing more of Mick Haller (and McConaughey) in a few years.

See it and, if you like hard-hitting legal dramas and have a couple of hours to kill, go ahead and see it BIG. If your philosophy is more along the lines of “life is for thinking and movies are for pure fun-sies”, well you might want to skip it altogether. Back to March Madness for me!

True…OUT!

Big Screen Blurb: Limitless

Nice thought. You take a little clear pill and all of a sudden the five percent of your brain that you actually use expands exponentially. The potential of the human mind is unleashed: sometimes for good and sometimes for evil, but always more powerful and potent.

That’s the premise of Bradley Cooper’s latest flick, Limitless. Cooper plays Eddie, a struggling writer who stumbles across a steroid for the brain from his former brother-in-law. There are problems, however, as utopia for the mind hasn’t exactly translated into perfection for life. Let’s just say the drug is not exactly FDA approved. Therefore, there are some problems with it, including being heavily sought after by the select few who know about it. Unfortunately, enough people do know about it to make it a hot commodity and worth killing to possess. But wait, there are more problems. Not having a governmental stamp of approval has left the drug—well, not exactly safe. In fact, it’s deadly. This leaves Eddie scrambling for more while he’s using his expanded smarts to make a killing in stock trading. Yadayadayada various paths cross as Eddie races against numerous challenges to avoid death’s multi-pronged attack.

It’s good. I’ll go with 3.5 Stars on this one. Limitless is certainly able to hold your attention, even if you decided upon Mr. Pibb as a mental stimulant in lieu of that little clear pill. Cooper is good; quite good, in fact. He shows a little range with an interesting character who you don’t know whether you want to slap upside the head or cheer alongside. Of course, Robert DeNiro, who plays the rich and powerful Carl Van Loon, was his typical brilliant self. Actually, DeNiro could have used more screen time in this one.

You’ve got a lot happening here for certain, but it all makes for an interesting 105 minutes. You’ve got the drug itself…Eddie’s expanded mind-power and all that he’s doing with it…a battle with thugs eager to get the drug and all the twists and turns that accompany a pretty winding, but interesting, ride. It’s a lot, but not too much.

Limitless is probably not for everyone, but there’s enough here to check out. That is, unless you’re one who insists on mind numbing romance or mindless explosions, in that case this food for thought flick might be worth skipping. If the concept is interesting to you…see it BIG…if there’s enough in this review to make you go “hmm”, rent it.

That’s it for me…got to watch some March Madness ELITE EIGHT style!

True…OUT!

Big Screen Blurb: Take Me Home Tonight

Let me make this perfectly clear. I am NOT Topher Grace. Yes, I have been told repeatedly that I bare a resemblance to the star of That 70’s Show and various big screen flicks. This comparison has always been flattering. That is, until Take Me Home Tonight—one of the more unfunny movies of the year. Sure, it has its moments—two or three anyway, but that’s not nearly enough to justify spending the time or cash on this baby.

Take Me Home Tonight is about 1984 high school grad Matt (Grace). Moving ahead four years after high school, the brainiac Matt has graduated from MIT. Success story waiting to happen, right? Well, not yet. Actually, he’s biding his time at Sun Coast Video in the mall. That’s when he sees the ole high school crush, Tori (Teresa Palmer). Matt invents an impressive job to begin the woo-ing process and it works. Meanwhile, his twin sister, Wendy (Anna Faris) and best friend, Barry (Dan Fogler) are both trying to figure out a few things of their own. Wendy is about to be engaged, where her life will be essentially dictated by her popular, but dim-witted beaux; and Barry has just lost his job selling cars. Yadayadayada the path to self-discovery starts with a stolen car and some coke only to end with a big metal ball and a swimming pool.

I’ll go with 1.5 Stars…yeah, pretty bad. As previously mentioned, it has a few funny moments, but all in all there’s nothing in this picture that would prompt me to recommend it. We open with the standard fare domino-effect destruction of a music store—which is pretty much a reflection of the entire movie. Ho-hum. Nothing unique. Nothing outrageously funny. Nothing of any inherent value.

Actually, it’s a flick that mirrors its message. The message relayed here centers on finding your path and carving out your own destination apart from peer and parental expectations. This movie struggles to find its own way. Is it expected to be funny-funny and striving to be gross-funny? Is it expected to create a teary-eyed ending; or charge us up if we haven’t yet quite found our niche in life? Who knows? I can take that kind of ambiguity if it has me rolling, but otherwise, no thanks.

Further, I’m still scratching my head to figure out why they chose 1988 instead of something present day. Why the 80’s? They didn’t want to mess with cell phones and Facebook? For that, we had to endure 114 minutes of whacked out hair and leg warmers?

Better luck next time, Topher. No need to waste your time on this one—skip it BIG, and unless you just find yourself craving poofed hair and some 80’s tunes, skip it altogether.

True…OUT!