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The Lincoln Lawyer starring Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei & Ryan Phillippe

Posted on December 26, 2010 Written by ripitup

The Lincoln Lawyer starring Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei & Ryan Phillippe. Based on the novel by Michael Connelly.

Mickey Haller (Matthew McConaughey) is a good litigation attorney whose office is the back of his (Lincoln) car. He has a young daughter with Maggie (Marisa Tomei), whose work environment is pretty conventional.

Matthew’s life changes when he signs on a big client – Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe) who is charged with assault. He is claiming that it is all a big set up. Is it really entrapment or he is a psychopath capable of killing women as well as destroying Mickey and his family?

This legal thriller is right up my alley. I am obsessed with legal thrillers, something I owe to John Grisham. In fact while I was watching the trailer, it all felt Grishamesque and which drew me in the first place. This one is based on Michael Connelly’s book The Lincoln Lawyer.

This loving family member lawyer type is exactly the role I want to see McConaughey in. God knows he played in enough romantic comedies and if he is going to stereotype himself, I’d rather have him in a legal thriller. It was a John Grisham drama/thriller that had made me a Matthew McConaughey fan in the first place. The movie was A Time to Kill, a solid Grisham adaptation co-starring Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Ashley Judd and Kevin Spacey. I loved the movie, despite having read and loved the book so that has got to say something.

It might be full of clichés but some clichés just work. Add the Grisham atmosphere, the cast (Marisa Tomei is one of my favorite actresses and Ryan Phillippe makes a perfectly unexpected villain with that baby face of his).

Coming to theaters in March. Watch The Trailer here.

Interested in upcoming thrillers? You can also check out Limitless starring Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, Anna Friel & Robert De Niro.

Also on Matthew McConaughey:

Matthew McConaughey : Wanna see him act? I have the movie for you…

Sex and The City TV Series – guest appearances feat. Matthew McConaughey

Also on Marisa Tomei:

The Watcher starring Keanu Reeves, James Spader & Marisa Tomei

6 Hollywood Stars That Would Make 20-Year-Olds Jealous feat. Marisa Tomei

Someone Like You starring Hugh Jackman, Ashley Judd, Greg Kinnear & Marisa Tomei,

Also on Ryan Phillippe:

Playing by Heart starring Phillippe, Angelina Jolie, Madeleine Stowe, Sean Connery, Dennis Quaid …

10 Celebrity Couple Break-Ups You May Not Have Seen Coming

Cheating Celebrity Trivia: 8 Male Celebrities That Cheated on Their Wives or Girlfriends

On John Grisham:

People who screwed us over…in a good way.Part 2: John Grisham

Matthew McConaughey : Wanna see him act? I have the movie for you…

Posted on August 15, 2009 Written by ripitup

It is sad to admit that Matthew McConaughey is probably the symbol of anti-diversity (I’m not even sure if this is a word but you get the point). I hadn’t even conciously thought about it until I saw a funny blog post about his romantic comedies, the latest being Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. The post was about how all his movies and their posters were alike. Although romantic comedies might follow a certain formula, they follow (almost) different routes on how characters get to be together in the end. The similarity of the posters, though, make me laugh. You can check out the link below:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/matthew-mcconaugheys-next-10-movies/

However, I am not sure I would go that far to thrash the guy. Because frankly, his name does attract me to a romantic comedy. It is not that I’m expecting much, but I like his presence. Yes, it feels like he is playing the same character a lot. And yes, he doesn’t change his appearance either- (a part from the awful haircut he wore in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past- and that straight cut made him look old and kind of unattractive) . But if you don’t think he can act and/or he is just a pretty face, go see A Time to Kill. It is a John Grisham adaptation; and it is a beautiful movie. And trust me, Grisham is my favorite author and I hate the movies that don’t do his work justice. But it is a powerful movie, and Matthew is brilliant there. I’ll get back to this movie shortly.

The post I gave the link of above, also thrashes Kate Hudson. A friend of mine had the same complaint about her: that she can’t act; that she plays the same character in the same lousy way over and over again. But then again, how many ways are there to play similar, two-dimensional characters? Maybe, they really find the paychecks too nice to turn down the roles. Maybe they love the work that doesn’t challenge them. Or maybe they are simply not offered scripts that help them bring out their potential. Remember, Hudson had been nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in Almost Famous. Hollywood is a tricky place to be in. I never see anyone doubting Gary Oldman’s talent. Yet even he has complained that he is hardly offered scripts that he loves.

And as for romantic comedies, why shouldn’t we have them? Where there is demand, there has to be supply. Economics 101, guys! Of course not all the examples of the genre are good. But they help you escape real life problems and it is nice to watch lives that are easily sorted out for a change.

Now, if you want to see Matthew act; and act him well at a good drama at that:

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Plot: Mississippi,1990s. Two rednecks rape a 10 year-old, African American girl. They are arrested but there is a chance they might not get a life sentence or even get away with it. The father loses it, and kills the men on the trial day. Now the father is the defendant. He is defended by his white lawyer friend Jake (McConaughey). You are with the father all the way. The thing so powerful about the story is, it feels so real. It kicks you in the gut. Because John Grisham based it on a real life case. You see, Grisham himself is a lawyer. One day at court, he is hearing in on a similar case- a little girl has been raped. John is a father too, so he puts himself in the father’s shoes, not being able to help it. And he thinks that he would want to shoot them down- and he probably would try. The story is gripping. Yet Grisham added another conflict by making the criminals white, and the victims Black; adding inevitable racism issues. The fact that the man’s lawyer also has a family- a wife and a little girl- and they get threatened by racist groups does not make things easier…Oh and of course the morality issues. Is it OK to take matters into your own hands? Hell, it is easy to give a lecture on what is right or wrong unless it is personal.

Go see A Time to Kill. You have seen the cast on the poster: Sandra Bullock (Jake’s assistant), Samuel L. Jackson (the father), Matthew McConaughey, Kevin Spacey ( as the District Attorney) and Ashley Judd (as Jake’s wife). And let’s keep our fingers crossed that Matthew acts in more movies like this…

People who screwed us over…in a good way.Part 2: John Grisham

Posted on July 21, 2009 Written by ripitup

I am not sure fans of Hemingway or Tolstoy will enjoy Grisham but millions of people love him nevertheless. His stories are captivating, original and hell- i think his name might be synoym for the concept page-turner.

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Even if you haven’t read him, you have probably watched or heard about the movie adaptations. The Firm, The Pelican Brief, A Time to Kill, Runaway Jury, The Client… to name a few. The movies always had major stars in them such as Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington (The Pelican Brief), Dustin Hoffman and John Cusack in The Runaway Jury and Chris O’ Donnel and Gene Hackman in The Rainmaker. The list goes on.

His paycheck for his second novel’ s (The Firm) was $6 million. The movie starred Tom Cruise.

So how did it happen? How did he become such a consecutive best-seller? How does he find so much material for so many books that are about lawyers and the law? Well, here it goes:

John Grisham is from Missisipi and is a lawyer. His first novel is A Time to Kill, though it was published after the success of The Firm. He worked the long hours at a law office. One day he witnessed a trial that practically changed his life.

A father’s young daughter had been raped and there was a chance the guilty party could walk away. John was a father too and he thought to himself that he would want to shoot the bastards dead. Hell, maybe he really would. So he imagined a story where the father was black, the girl was 10 and the rapists were white. He also imagined the father would shoot the guys- right at the trial. He also imagined a young white lawyer who took up the case and racist groups that made life difficult for everyone. And he wrote A Time to Kill. The movie features Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Ashley Judd and Kiefer Sutherland. It is a good book and a good movie that pays its respect. But funnily enough the books were rejected when John first sent it to publishers. He gave up after a while and wrote The Firm. This book went to print, and became a smash hit. After that, he didn’t have a hard time finding a publisher.

The path to building your career-no matter what the sector-involves a lot of failed expectations, unreturned calls and emails to job applications, bad intervies and well, hopeless moments. I believe trying to make it as a writer is even more difficult because rejection gets to be a part of your everyday life. Sometimes a project you are so fond of are going to be turned down. But just like you do not hit rock buttom and enter into the depression zone after a bad interview, you have to take it in and start working on something else. Grisham is one of the richest and most successful writers. I loved his books so much my dad seriously thought I should become a lawyer. My addiction to courtroom suspense started with him. I only dream about improving my penship so that I can become half the writer he is.

But there. You have a guy who managed to look after his family, produce a book in between 70 hour work weeks, handle rejection and write another book among that hectic work schedule. Wow!!!!

Now you have a guy, who takes cases when he wants, writes full time, who can afford anything he wants, and coaches baseball at his kid’s team. (Did I mention he wanted to be a baseball player when he was a kid himself ?)

So as far as idols go, Grisham is one of my heroes. Who are yours?