TORONTO – Matthew McConaughey abandons his shirtless beach-boy look for a fancy suit in the movie mystery, The Lincoln Lawyer.
Opening March 18, the Brad Furman-directed film based on the popular Michael Connelly crime novel has McConaughey playing Mickey Haller, an unorthodox lawyer operating his Los Angeles practice out of his Lincoln Town Car.
Living on the edge, Haller has survived by representing low-rent criminals, but that changes when he lands a big assignment defending a rich Beverly Hills playboy (Ryan Phillippe) accused of attempted murder and rape.
As McConaughey’s lawyer digs deeper into the case, he realizes there are more complications than he anticipated, which may threaten his career, and even his life.
Despite his previous shirtless efforts in romantic comedies, the latest role returns the actor to familiar territory. His breakout role was as lawyer Jake Brigance in the 1996 movie version of John Grisham’s A Time to Kill.
"Yes, I am definitely back in the courtroom, but this Lincoln Lawyer guy is a whole lot different," said the 41-year-old at a Toronto hotel recently.
For one thing, his latest legal eagle doesn’t champion worthy causes, and he isn’t necessarily intent on doing the right thing.
"It’s nice to play a guy who is kind of a bottom feeder," the actor said. "He’s not about morals or ethics; he’s about getting people off and getting it done anyway he can, so he’s pretty street(-smart), compared to my Time to Kill guy."
Yet McConaughey felt more pressure to define the rogue in a realistic way.
"I was fired up every day, because there was so much to do on this," he said. "I felt the challenge, because I knew I had to make the audience believe my character could handle all the stuff he has to, or it would take everybody right out of the movie."
And who better to play an attorney who works out of his car than a free-spirited actor who’s been across America more than a few times in live-in vehicles?
"Let’s admit it, I was that guy," said McConaughey, smiling. "I’ve customized vans and Airstream trailers, and I know how to make a car my home."
He’s been a non-conformist during his up-and-down film career.
After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, McConaughey first caught Hollywood’s attention in Richard Linklater’s 1993 high-school comedy, Dazed and Confused.
The next year, he had a small part in Angels in the Outfield, and co-headlined with Renee Zellweger in the slasher remake, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation.
It was his scene-stealing performance in A Time to Kill two years later that elevated him to A-list status.
A string of misses – Contact, The Newton Boys, Edtv and U-571 – took the wind out of his movie-star sails, but he recovered with a series of romantic comedies, including 2001’s The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez, and 2003’s How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days opposite Kate Hudson.
In 2005, starred in an action franchise with Sahara, but it fizzled at the box office.
He had better luck returning to the romantic-comedy genre with 2006’s Failure to Launch with Sarah Jessica Parker and re-teaming with Hudson for 2008’s Fool’s Gold, which received bad notices but earned a decent box-office return.
His Ghosts of Girlfriends Past in 2009 was equally reviled by critics, but scooped up better than average returns.
Still, McConaughey was inching closer to becoming a one-note romantic comedy hunk when The Lincoln Lawyer project came along -although he insists his return to drama was a coincidence, rather than an attempt at career rehab.
"It was less a conscious attempt to steer away from comedies, and more like I read the script and it just seemed right to me."
So did re-upping with Linklater nearly two decades later. McConaughey is the featured attraction, along with Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine in Linklater’s dark comedy, Bernie, set for release later in the year.
The movie is about a mortician, a murder and a coverup. "It’s loosely based on a true story of what can go wrong in a small Texas town."
On the domestic front, things are less radical. The former free-thinking wanderer has settled down to a house in L. A. with his wife, Camila Alves, and his two-year-old son, Levi, and 14-month-old daughter, Vida.
"I always knew I wanted to settle down and have a family," McConaughey said. "Of course, it doesn’t end up like you think it’s going to be. It’s cooler, and more emotional, and a lot harder than you think."
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