The Lincoln Lawyer 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review
Brad Sturdivant
August 5th, 2017
A few months before the transformation of Matthew McConaughey’s career really started, the “McConaissance” if you will, we got THE LINCOLN LAWYER. Some consider this the start of the said McConaissance, but I consider it starting a few months later with KILLER JOE. THE LINCOLN LAWYER just feels like the kind of shiny, empty film that McConaughey was doing earlier in his career. It’s not a bad film, but it’s a bit empty and it’s clear McConaughey isn’t really stretching himself as an actor.
McConaughey is Mick Haller, a sleazy lawyer that wheels and deals around town, all the while riding in the back of a Lincoln Town Car. He’s living a good life, making money by feeding off the legal troubles of criminals and the like, but when approached with the chance to make big money with a high profile client, he takes it. He soon finds out that this client’s case isn’t as easy as he originally thought and worse than that, he actually has a personal attachment to it that he wasn’t banking on. This sets off a fast paced third act that sees Mick racing to figure everything out and protect the people he’s closest to.
Director Brad Furman followed up THE LINCOLN LAWYER with the equally shiny and empty RUNNER RUNNER. It’s clear his scthick is to cast good looking guys and film with lots of sunsets and bright settings. In some ways, it works to make you think there’s more to THE LINCOLN LAWYER than there really is, but in reality, the film falls into several traps that make it feel a little contrived and predictable. This is proven once that third act rolls around and everything gets wrapped up with a nice bow on top.
What success the film does have is attributed to its star, Matthew McConaughey. he carries the film with his usual charm and that charm goes a long way in keeping the audience engaged. I think this is right around the time Ryan Philippe turned into a bad guy and he embraces his sleaziness here. The other supporting actors do their part and collectively, they make the script look a lot better than it actually is.
Although shiny and pretty to look at, THE LINCOLN LAWYER is a pretty typical whodunnit with a dash of legal drama thrown in. Matthew McConaughey carries the film and makes it worth the effort, but other than that, you’ll probably feel like you’ve seen THE LINCOLN LAWYER before.
4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: Although I don’t think Brad Furman has found his footing when it comes to telling a story, he does have a signature gloss he applies to his films that make them nice to look at. With THE LINCOLN LAWYER, he incorporates a nice mix of sunshine and shadows that look nice on 4K. The Blu-ray looked good as well and the differences between the two formats are most noticeable in the interior shots, where we get a nice uptick in detail on clothing and facial features. The outside shots look nice, but there’s a grain to them that is a bit more pronounced on 4K. The HDR comes through on the scenes where there’s a mixture of outside and interior shots, such as the beginning scenes of Mick riding in his Lincoln. In those shots, you see a lot more detail and color variation in the backgrounds and in the textures in the car. Overall, THE LINCOLN LAWYER looks nice on 4K UHD.
Audio: The film clearly isn’t designed to blast speakers out of your ceiling, but the Dolby Atmos track is a nice upgrade.
This title was reviewed using a Samsung UBD-K8500 with a Sony XBR75X850C TV.
The 4K UHD does not contain any exclusive features, but it does include a Blu-ray of the film. You can read our Blu-ray review by clicking THE LINCOLN LAWYER Blu-ray Review.
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