How La Défense Lincoln Revived Matthew McConaughey’s Career

Before this film, Matthew McConaughey was mainly seen as a fop who was just good at showing off his pecs in less and less inspired romantic comedies. But with La Défense Lincoln, everyone finally agrees!

The actor plays Michael Haller, an attorney in Los Angeles working in the back of his car, a Lincoln Continental. He has spent the majority of his career defending low-level criminals, until he stumbles upon the case of his life: a wealthy Beverly Hills playboy is charged with attempted murder. But contrary to what he thought, this case is not going to be easy.

For Matthew McConaughey, The Lincoln Defense came at a good time. Apart from rare exceptions like Live on Ed TV, Thunder in the Tropics or How to get dumped in 10 lessons, the actor has shot in mediocre films, chaining romantic comedies and bad choices for nearly 15 years. Hitting rock bottom with Haunted By His Exes, a “romcom” revisit of Scrooge’s Funny Christmas, McConaughey is taking a break. He is waiting for the right subject.

When La Défense Lincoln reached him, he invested himself in his role, meeting real lawyers and himself choosing the director, Brad Furman, whose way of filming Los Angeles he had appreciated in The Take (2007). The film adapts the eponymous novel by Michael Connelly.

The result, if not perfect, provides a solid film noir revisited with modern sauce, carried by a Matthew McConaughey in great shape. His pleadings allow him to show all his talent and his charisma, restoring his image as an actor badly damaged by an avalanche of tasteless films.

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Success is finally there with 86.7 million reported worldwide for a 40 million budget and for the actor then begins a new career which will lead him in barely three years to an Oscar for Best Actor for Dallas Buyers Club. (2014). The same year, he triumphed on the small screen in True Detective. A great revenge!

As for the novel The Lincoln Defense, it was adapted again, this time for television. Created by David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies), the series is still ongoing at the time of writing, and available on Netflix, with Manuel Garcia-Rulfo in the title role.