Usually it is easy to wait for new movies to be released on DVD. The Lincoln Lawyer was an exception. It was a great opportunity to go to dinner and a movie with friends with whom we share great enthusiasm for the books of Michael Connelly and the movies, especially those starring Matthew McConaughey. Even at a cost of $7.50 senior prices per person, it was a worthwhile experience.
Mickey Haller is the likeable central character who maximizes his time by running his law practice from the back seat of his Lincoln Continental towncar while being driven from one case to another. The movie does the book justice and reveals many flaws in our criminal justice system. Haller brushes shoulders daily with the seedy side of humanity and tries to bring them justice while sometimes having to trade on their particular skills. When he draws a case from the "upper crust", he discovers the two sides of society overlap in ways he hadn't anticipated. Deal making is a constant in his practice. Without revealing the intriguing twists of the plot, the conclusion is particularly satisfying.
I liked the fast pace, the clever dialogue, and the interesting relationships between the accused and those involved in upholding the justice system. I perceived an interesting tribute to those in the legal system, and law enforcement due to the vulnerablity of their friends and family as they try to uphold the law and see that the innocent is not wrongly accused and the guilty is justly incarcerated. I liked seeing the uncertainty of Haller in his ability to judge who is telling the truth and who is lying. When he feels he has the proof he needs to handle a case appropriately, his skill in making the most of the system is amazing to watch.
I hope it is the beginning of more movies of the character Mickey Haller because Michael Connelly has four books to date with this major character. Matthew McConaughey plays the role of Mickey Haller like it was written with him in mind. The other members of the cast were also well-chosen. My view of the movie is greatly influenced by having read the books before seeing the movie. The production was very entertaining and convincing for me.
When a movie is produced from a novel that has been marketed first, my preference is to read the book before seeing the movie. Often that doesn't happen and I see the movie before realizing that it was a novel first. Novels have more details that can't be included within a screenplay and if it isn't written by the novel author, the movie loses much of the ambience that is created in a novel. It is a successful movie on some level if I am intrigued to the point that I will spend the time to read the book after seeing the movie.
The Ghost Writer was a movie that lured me into a plot I had not suspected. I deliberately try not to read reviews of movies before I watch them to see them through an open mind. I read the reviews after I see the movie. I like to make up my own mind and see if I agree with the impressions of the reviewers. The review of this movie in the New York Times was enlightening and provides more than enough analysis of movie making techniques: "Mr. Polanski creates suspense inside the frame through dynamic angles and through the discrete, choreographed movements of the camera and actors. He makes especially effective use of the enormous windows in Lang’s house through which the sky and ocean beckon and threaten."
People and their stories always interest me more than movie-making techniques. After seeing the movie, I will read the book because I want to know more of this plot to see how Robert Harris, who wrote The Ghost, adapted the novel in the screenplay which he "co-authored" with the movie's producer Roman Polanski. Aside from all the negative connotations of that name, the movie is filled with political intrigue, sinister characters and enough dark moods to rival Citizen Kane.
For a story that begins innocently with a job to quickly polish the memoirs of a former prime minister, the job quickly spirals out of control for the ghost writer who begins some research and gets in over his head. The movie leaves more questions than answers for me. Why does a former prime minister spend time in what looks like a WWII German bunker on a beautiful island? Why does not a ghost writer just polish the pre-existing manuscript, take the money and run? Why is he compelled to assume the role of an investigative reporter to try to unravel the complicated lives of the principals of the auto-biography? Perhaps money and power being the root of all evils are much too simple as answers. This amateur movie watcher finds the ever-present alphabet agencies of governments and all-powerful corporations provide more than enough fodder for conspiracies. I agree with James Patterson whose motto is, "Tell me a good story." The Ghost Writer is a good story, and I have to see if the book ends in the same vein as the movie.
On the subject of murder, I'll get to the sex later, I've been wading through the swamp of Prey books of John Sandford starting with Rules of Prey, I'm currently reading number six in a series of 20. It is called Night Prey. Number three was called Eyes of Prey and it was the creepiest so far. I found it so gory, it was hard to read, and forget watching a movie about something like that. So why am I reading it? I'm a sucker for mysteries and the hook was so strong, I kept reading and I was starting to really like the main character, Lucas Davenport. I read Sandford's latest book in the series called Storm Prey released in 2010 before deciding that I liked the author well enough to spend time on his other books. I'm pretty adept at blowing off the parts I don't want to cope with so I'm hanging in there through the whole set.
I read spy novel authors like Vince Flynn and Robert Ludlum. Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp is supposedly the prototype for Jack Bauer in the TV series 24 and Vince Flynn served as adviser on the program. Of course spies like Mitch Rapp are strong Alpha Male characters and always "out of control" according to those who want to control them. Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne character was cast from the same mold. I got hooked on watching the Bourne Trilogy again on cable recently and they just keep running them and I just keep watching. Matt Damon is so easy on the eyes and I have loads of time to watch him. Of course he always wins in the end so spy novels and the following movies are like old westerns because we know ahead who wears the white hats and who is going to win at the end. Murder mysteries in books are unsettling and sometimes the movies are even more unsettling.
The most rewarding read is always a good romance novel. The category of romance novels outsells all others in the book market. According to NBC, romance novel sales are not only thriving, but increasing in sales in a depressed economy where the publishing industry shows a decrease in sales in all other categories. People are always looking for an escape from the realities of life and what better than a "trashy" novel with a happy ending,
We romance novel readers know there are romance novels, then there are spicy romance novels. If the spice of life appeals, one of the best authors on the market today is Stephanie Laurens. I just finished her third book in her Black Cobra quartet. It has mystery and romance with graphic, spicy, yes sexy details! I eagerly wait for the fourth due in the fall. I've read all of her books and will read anything she writes. That ex-Ph.D. biochemist, Stephanie Laurens, knows a whole bunch about sex. Oh, those Cynsters and that Bastion Club with the mysterious Dalziel are fascinating!
Another of my favorite authors is Lisa Kleypas and her Sugar Daddy with sequel Blue-Eyed Devil which were very enjoyable reads. Of course the queen bee of all romance fiction, Nora Roberts, is still going strong and producing a dazzling number of books each year on her way to the bank. I finished her third in the Brides quartet about the four young ladies who run a wedding consulting business. The photographer, the baker, the florist and the coordinator of the whole show find their grooms also.
After dealing with fictional serial killers and spies, I have to look for some reading of a happier variety and I'm addicted to romance novels.
TAKEN
--A movie of fearless, bold, reckless courage
--Action adventure
--Alpha male with "skills"
--High body count
--Justified cause
--Sanitized violence
--Fear factor
--Vulnerable families
--Stark realism views the seedy side of life
--Language not objectionably crude
--High suspense level
--Suitable conclusion
