Unorthodox Attorney Defends Hero Who May Be a Villian in 'Th

Matthew McConaughey stars in a new legal drama as a defense¹ attorney with a case that could make him a star or end his career. It's adapted from a novel by Michael Connelly who praises the film version as true to the spirit of his best seller. Here's a look at The Lincoln Lawyer.
Mick Haller is a lawyer who is driven, literally². The back seat of his Lincoln automobile³ is set up as a rolling office where he works while shuttling between the 40 courthouses in Los Angeles or, on occasion, picking up his daughter from soccer practice.
"Why can't you get a real office?"
"Well, sweetie, this is a real office. What's more fun, my office or your mom's?"
"Yours."
"Boom."
Mick is a smooth operator known for winning cases. So when wealthy playboy Lewis Roulet is accused of murder, he turns to "The Lincoln Lawyer."
"This whole thing is a setup. I made a mistake with that woman and she was setting me up."
"Keep your voice down."
Saeed Adyani
Matthew McConaughey as defense attorney Mick Haller in "The Lincoln Lawyer"
Matthew McConaughey has played lawyers before in films like the historical drama Amistad and the contemporary legal thriller⁴ A Time To Kill. Before he discovered acting⁵, he even considered studying law. McConaughey says this character, Mick Haller, is a collection of contradictions as he seeks justice for his clients.
"The system doesn't like the Mick Hallers of the world. Is he a 'white knight⁶?' No. But are the people he is defending 'white knights⁷?' No. Are the people he is dealing⁸ with innocent? Not usually, but that is the fight he chooses to fight," notes McConaughey. "So there are two sides of the coin and Mick has just chosen the defense side."
"Are you sure there is not anything you are not telling me?"
"No."
Saeed Adyani
Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Philippe in a scene from "The Lincoln Lawyer"
"One of the great things is that Mick is always one or two steps ahead," explains McConaughey. "And when he his not, and there does come a time when he does not have the answer, he still bluffs⁹ and plays like he has the answer. Basically, he is just throwing a gamble on the table and saying 'let's go, big boy, let's get after it.' "
"So he's a card player. He's dealing. He's bluffing¹⁰. He's doubling down, and all this has to do with the livelihood¹¹ of not only himself, but his family, an innocent man that he put in jail [or] a guilty man that he is defending," adds Ryan Phillippe, who co-stars as Lewis Roulet, the latest defendant¹², determined¹³ to get away with murder.
Saeed Adyani
Jesus Martinez (Michael Pena) left, and Mick Halle (Matthew McConaughey) right in "The Lincoln Lawyer"
"It's fun to play a bad guy. It's very liberating," admits Philippe. "When you are the protagonist¹⁴ or the hero there are rules to that. You have to keep the audience on your side [and] you have to be relatable. When you're the villain¹⁵ or a bad guy all of that goes out the window and you can go as extreme or as bizarre as you want.
"There's something very interesting about the psychology¹⁶ of the serial¹⁷ killer¹⁸ who kind of wants to get caught, who leaves clues and leads on the police," Philippe says. "That's one of the things. When Roulet is so anxious to take the stand in his own defense [and] he is so adamant¹⁹ that the case go immediately to trial. A guilty person typically would want to avoid those things, but there is something about that that excites him: that game, that toying with the rest of the people."
Saeed Adyani
Maggie McPherson (Marisa Tomei) and Mick Halle (Matthew McConaughey) in a scene from "The Lincoln Lawyer"
Author Michael Connelly drew on his experience as a journalist and consulted several defense attorneys while writing the novel on which the film is based. Well known for his crime fiction series featuring detective Harry²⁰ Bosch, Connelly says The Lincoln Lawyer posed the same dilemma²¹ for the filmmakers as it did for him as a writer: how to make audiences root for a lawyer.
"I wanted to challenge myself and write about a character that is pretty much misunderstood by most of society and is quite an underdog in the justice system.," explains Conelly. "That was the big challenge in this book, and it was also my big concern in turning it over to people who make movies because it would be quite easy for Hollywood to turn him into a lovable scallywag and then the reality that I worked hard to get into the book is being eroded²². To their credit, they didn't do that. They really kept him loyal to the book."
The cast of Lincoln Lawyer also includes Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei as a veteran prosecutor²³. In a refreshing²⁴ change from recent films that try to imitate a real setting, the movie was filmed on location in some of the grittier corners of Los Angeles.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

4 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

5 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

6 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

7 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 bluffs   

恐吓( bluff的名词复数 )； 悬崖； 峭壁

参考例句：

• Two steep limestone bluffs rise up each side of the narrow inlet. 两座陡峭的石灰石断崖耸立在狭窄的入口两侧。
• He bluffs his way in, pretending initially to be a dishwasher and then later a chef. 他虚张声势的方式，假装最初是一个洗碗机，然后厨师。

10 bluffing   

n. 威吓，唬人 动词bluff的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I don't think he'll shoot—I think he's just bluffing. 我认为他不会开枪—我想他不过是在吓唬人。
• He says he'll win the race, but he's only bluffing. 他说他会赢得这场比赛，事实上只是在吹牛。

11 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

12 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

14 protagonist   

n.(思想观念的)倡导者；主角，主人公

参考例句：

• The protagonist reforms in the end and avoids his proper punishment.戏剧主角最后改过自新并避免了他应受的惩罚。
• He is the model for the protagonist in the play.剧本中的主人公就是以他为模特儿创作的！

15 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

16 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

17 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

18 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

19 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

20 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

21 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

22 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

23 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

24 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。