The recent dramas “The Lincoln Lawyer” and “Limitless” follow two men undergoing massive, life-altering changes: The former follows a scum bucket defense attorney who saves his own crumpled soul when he realizes his wealthy client has no such thing. The latter focuses on a bum-luck writer who finds smarts and unimaginable wealth with an experimental drug, his soul is optional.
It’s “Lincoln Lawyer” that’s the winner by far, with Matthew McConaughey ripping into his role as Mickey Haller with a starving wolf hunger not seen since on the actor since “A Time to Kill.” McConaughey is all bleary bloodshot eyes, sweating out the poison of countless bad rom-coms, as Mickey scrambles to get out from under the weight of his sociopathic client (Ryan Phillippe, using his blankness to eerie evil effect). Nothing in this is a shocker, but it’s a helluva character study, with a great arc. William H. Macy graces the screen as a supporting player in Mickey’s life. A cool flick, more of these films please! Oh, Marisa Tomei -- seriously good actress. B+
In “Limitless,” Bradley Cooper is a NYC novelist, if only he could write one word, living in squalor and recently dumped by his successful girlfriend (Abbie Cornish). One magic pill changes all this, and Eddie is Ernest-Hemingway-Albert-Einstein with unlimited libido, godly language skills, and a penthouse apartment. Does it all come crashing down? Yeah. But then what could have been a spectacular, nasty and bloody satire on youthful “GQ” excess in 2000s turns into a slightly satiric celebration of exactly that. “Limitless” should have gone balls to the wall for a razor-sharp “R” rating, not an airplane friendly PG-13. Oh, so limited. Robert De Niro turns up for awhile but doesn't have much fun or range here. What's with that? B-
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I agree with you completely on Limitless. It was a fun flick, and worth a viewing, but it could have been sharper with an "R" format.
ReplyDeleteI have to give the Lincoln Lawyer an "A", though. This film was riveting from beginning to end. The character development was excellent and the acting was superb.
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