Not Approved

The Lincoln Lawyer

A lawyer conducts business from the back of his Lincoln town car while representing a high-profile client in Beverly Hills.
15
Negative Rating
12345
SexLanguageViolenceDrugsNudityOther
0
Positive Rating
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FaithIntegrity

Dove Review

This is a mystery/suspense story that is better than some I have reviewed. Mick Haller (Matthew McConaughey) is an attorney who always charges the highest prices he can because, as he tells one client, “I don’t work for nothing”. He works almost all the time except for brief evenings or weekends when he picks up his young daughter Hayley from his ex-wife Maggie who is played by Marisa Tomei.

When a man named Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe) is accused of beating up a prostitute and her subsequent death, he swears to Mick that he is innocent and refuses to take part in any plea bargain because “I am not going to prison for something I didn’t do.” A lot of the film focuses on Mick going after the clues in order to exonerate his client. However, a few things don’t match up and soon Mick finds himself wondering if he is indeed defending an innocent man or if his client simply loves placing the rap on innocent people for the dastardly crimes which have been committed. When Mick’s best friend Frank Levin dies (William H. Macy) after doing some investigating, Mick ups his urgent search for the truth. The film manages a bit of humor here and there as Frank says at one point, “This guy set me up. He’s off my Christmas list.”

Despite the nicely crafted story the language is above our acceptability level as is the sex content and therefore we cannot award our Dove Seal to this movie. It was nice to see Mick undergo some changes and without giving much away he decides to defend someone for free at the end of the film. Still, “family friendly” this one isn’t.

Dove Rating Details

0
Faith

None

0
Integrity

A character is shown beating up a prostitute and another woman is shown being beaten; photo of woman with bruises and bloody face; knife held to woman's throat; gun shots and man and woman are both shot and one fatally; another character is shot and we see a small pool of blood next to his head; a man is beat up by a gang.

3
Sex

Implied sex between unmarried couple; talk of prostitutes and paying for sex; a few slang terms; a comment about a flushed condom.

5
Language

GD-4; J-2; S/BS-17; SOB-6; F-3; "F you"-1; A-7; D-2; H-8; Sucked-1; B-4; Slang for testicles-1; A couple of "fag" references to homosexuals; Slang about how it's hanging; Slang for male genitalia.

2
Violence

A character is shown beating up a prostitute and another woman is shown being beaten; photo of woman with bruises and bloody face; knife held to woman's throat; gun shots and man and woman are both shot and one fatally; another character is shot and we see a small pool of blood next to his head; a man is beat up by a gang.

2
Drugs

Several scenes of drinking in the movie and bar scenes; talk about drugs including a woman who was found with cocaine; "I was high a lot" comment; a man is seen smoking and it's mentioned by a character that he needs cigarettes.

2
Nudity

A couple of women seen in bra and panties; cleavage; shirtless man.

1
Other

Lies are told by some of the characters; a man deals with the pain of the death of his friend.

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