After nearly a decade of smiling, preening, and taking his shirt off in a plethora of less than satisfactory rom-coms, Matthew McConaughey returns to the Courtroom in The Lincoln Lawyer - a thriller that is all but tailor made for the actor's sensibilities. And he doesn't take his shirt off once in this picture. Well, he does take it off once, but when he does, its in the heat of a passion so the act feels a little more appropriate.

In The Lincoln Lawyer, a smooth talking McConaughey plays an attorney hired to defend a man (played by Ryan Phillippe) who may or may not have beaten a prostitute within an inch of her life. The Lincoln Lawyer is certainly stitched together using bits and pieces of court room thrillers we've seen before (think Suspect, Jagged Edge, Primal Fear, Fracture, etc.), but it offers up a nifty little spin. One I'm reluctant to reveal in this review. Lets just say that The Lincoln Lawyer isn't about a big twist. Is the man McConaughey is defending guilty of the heinous crime with which he's been charged? The Lincoln Lawyer doesn't make you wait until the end to find out. McConaughey is brash and cocky with a swagger that's perfectly fitting for this film. There are a couple of outstanding scenes in this movie when you can feel the anger seeping from his entire being. Furthermore, there's a complexity to The Lincoln Lawyer, but the film is never confusing.

There is a large cast of characters here (played by the likes of William H. Macy, Marisa Tomei, Josh Lucas, John Leguizamo, Frances Fisher, Bryan Cranston, Trace Adkins, Michael Pena, Laurence Mason, and Michael Pare) but refreshingly, none of these characters feel disposable. All play some kind of a role in the grand scheme of things and this is as it should be. The Lincoln Lawyer isn't perfect. In addition to going a bit over the top with what feels like three or four different endings, there's nothing wholly original about the murder plot. Furthermore, I could have done without the arbitrary twist in the last five minutes (which reminded me of a plot thread in Kindergarten Cop, if you can believe that). Minor quibbles however. McConaughey is terrific in this picture reminding us all of why we found him so appealing in the first place (for the record, see Dazed and Confused, Frailty, A Time To Kill, and U-571 . He and director Brad Furman have crafted a solid courtroom thriller that's engaging from beginning to end.

Grade: B