Based on the final result, one would have to assume that whoever was the chief auteur of Los Angeles-set  The Lincoln Lawyer had a simple plan.  To wit: Take all the elements from 15 years of lawyerly dramas, mix them up in a bucket, then throw the contents against a screen and see what sticks.

            A lot of the slick goo does stick, but it’s not a very attractive display.  On hand we have the rascal with a conscience (the male version of the whore with a heart of gold), the arrogant rich criminal (fake class consciousness), the overconfident opposing counsel (an assistant d.a.), the meaningless and disposable character tic (our conscience-stricken criminal attorney uses a Lincoln for an office), eccentric good buddy (a shaggy private eye), and some subplot bad guys who turn out to be all lovable (bikers).

            Technique also gets the grab-bag treatment.  Early on, the movie features a long mobile camera shot that scurries along with the lawyer as a mouthy bail bondsman pitches a client.  There are some self-consciously unglamorous locations placed here and there.   Strangest are a couple of eye-in-the-sky perpendicular views usually used for “concrete canyon” looks at Manhattan – concrete canyons being famously scarce in horizontal L.A.

            Critically absent is the compulsion to create that just might have tied these disparate parts together.  There is, after all, nothing wrong with invoking genre elements as long as they’re enlivened or invigorated.  In The Lincoln Lawyer, they’re just tallied.

            The Lincoln Lawyer stars Matthew McConaughey,  Josh Lucas, Ryan Phillippe, John Leguizamo and William H. Macy.  You can tell which parts they play.