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M AY 22, 2022
E N T E R TA I N M E N T
David E. Kelley Brings Courtroom Drama Finesse to Lincoln Lawyer
Connelly’s five “Lincoln Lawyer” novels (the first was made into a 2011 feature film starring Matthew ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ McConaughey), this is a slick, easily (out of four) digested and well-acted legal thrillA 10-episode series Thursdays on er featuring an outstanding ensemble Paramount+. cast and a juicy, lurid murder mystery that keeps us guessing throughout he 10-part Netflix original — not that we can’t see some of the series “The Lincoln Lawtwists coming a mile down the road. yer” is set in the present That’s even part of the fun of shows day, and the title character such as this one; we feel smarter than is indeed an attorney, but it has the most of the people in the room, excomfort-viewing vibe of the clascept, of course, our hero, who’s always sic hourlong cop and private-eye one step ahead of everyone else, even dramas of the 1970s and 1980s, e.g., when it appears as if he’s stumbled atres • Santa Clarita Signal adsource@exhibitorads.com “The Rockford Files, ” “McCloud,” down yet another rabbit hole. “Magnum, P.I.” and “Baretta.” It conp. 888.737.2812 f. 203.438.1206 5.9” Manuel Garcia-Rulfo has a kind tains many of the familiar elements of effortless charm and creates inPHOTO COURTESY IMDB date: Sunday-Thursday, and characters from those May shows, 22-26, 2022 stant empathy with his portrayal of includingTuesday, the likable antihero, the at 11:40:01 ably no AM coincidence, given the showdelivery date: May 17, 2022 CASCS_LEM0522-0526.qxp the flawed but goodhearted defense traditional authority figures who are runner is the prolific David E. Kelley, attorney Mickey Haller, first seen on always throwing up obstacles, the whose credits include “Boston Pubthe beach in Los Angeles, staring out rogue sidekick and the rotating gallic,” “Ally McBeal,” “Picket Fences,” at the waves and reliving a near-falery of colorful suspects. “Chicago Hope,” “The Practice,” “Big tal accident from a year and a half It’s Netflix, but it feels like old-fash- Sky” and we’re just getting warmed ago. Mickey essentially fell off the ioned network TV — and that’s prob- up. Based on the second of Michael grid — but now he’s back in the game after a former colleague, defense attorney Jerry Vincent, was murdered in a parking garage and, for reasons TM unknown, left his entire potentially lucrative practice to Mickey. Presiding Judge Mary Holder (the always terrific LisaGay Hamilton) 22500 Lyons Ave. info Line 310.478.3836 expresses skepticism about Mickey’s ability to handle the caseload, given his recent history, but he attempts DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA B 1:20 2:20 4:20 6:30 7:20 to reassure her, saying, “I was in an The much-anticipated cinematic return of the global phenomenon reunites the beloved cast as they go on a grand journey to the South of France to uncover the mystery of the Dowager Countess’ newly inherited villa. accident. … I had multiple surgeries MEN E 1:30 4:30 7:30 and there were complications. I took In the aftermath of a personal tragedy, Harper retreats alone to the beautiful English countryside, hoping to have found a place to heal. painkillers, got addicted to them. FIRESTARTER E 4:30 PM A girl with extraordinary pyrokinetic powers fights to protect her family and herself from sinister forces that seek to capture and That’s over now. I got help, got clean; control her. so whatever concerns you may have DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS C about my reputation —” 1:10 4:10 7:10 “It’s MY reputation I’m concerned Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary. about,” says the judge. “I’m the one THE BAD GUYS B 1:20 4:20 7:00 that has to sign off on you, or not.” After a lifetime of pulling legendary heists, five notorious bad guys attempt their most challenging job yet - going good. Nobody has ever failed so hard at trying to be good as The Bad Guys. Of course, Judge Holder does sign THE DUKE E 4:00 PM off on Mickey picking up all of JerThe Duke is set in 1961 when Kempton Bunton, a 60-year old taxi driver, stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. ry’s cases, including the high-profile THE NORTHMAN E 1:00 7:00 murder trial of hot-shot tech zilThe Northman is an action-filled epic that follows a young Viking prince on his quest to avenge his father’s murder. lionaire Trevor Elliott (Christopher THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT E Gorham), who made his fortune after Sun: 1:15 7:20; Mon: 1:15 PM; Tue: 7:20 PM; Wed: 1:15 7:20; writing the first code that gave lifelike Thu: 1:15 PM Nicolas Cage stars as...Nicolas Cage in the action-comedy THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT. Creatively unfulfilled and eyes to action video game characters, facing financial ruin, the fictionalized version of Cage must accept a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a super fan. and how’s THAT for a modern way SHORT FILM PROGRAM I Mon: 7:30 PM; Tue: 1:00 PM to make a buck! Elliott is accused of TOP GUN: MAVERICK C Thu: 7:10 PM After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is pushing the envelope as a shooting and killing his wife and her courageous test pilot. yoga instructor after coming home FOR 5/22/20225/26/2022 ONLY WWW.LAEMMLE.COM one afternoon and finding them in By Richard Roeper Signal Contributing Writer
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bed together, and the consensus is he’s guilty as guilty can be. He’s also an obnoxious tool, but Mickey is the man, and Mickey will look past Elliott’s odious personality and the seemingly airtight case against him and dig deep to see if there’s some way, any possible way, Elliott can be found not guilty. Oh, and Elliott insists that the trial not be postponed, because he wants his name and his image and his brand restored ASAP. Self-entitled murder suspects: They’re the worst. Kelley and co-writer Ted Humphrey seamlessly introduce a number of key characters into the proceedings, starting with Becki Newton’s Lorna, who runs Mickey’s suddenly busy office and is his second wife, and Neve Campbell’s Maggie McPherson, a prosecutor who is Mickey’s FIRST wife and the mother of their teenage daughter, Hayley (Krista Warner). Mickey’s best friend and dramatic/ comedic private eye sidekick is the Zen motorcyclist Cisco (Angus Sampson), who recently has become engaged to Lorna, and Mickey seems fine with that, because he and Lorna work better as friends than romantic partners. (Also, it’s clear Mickey is still in love with Maggie, and how can you not be? It’s Neve Campbell, man!) Jazz Raycole turns in fine work as Izzy, who, like Mickey, is a recovering drug addict and is hired to drive him around Los Angeles in his Lincoln SUV as he works multiple cases simultaneously — but the major focus is the slimy tech exec and the increasingly labyrinthine circumstances surrounding that double murder. “The Lincoln Lawyer” has a visually appealing style and makes good use of the L.A. locations, from its sun-dappled afternoons to the noirish nights when, if you’re not careful, someone might clobber you over the head and tell you it’s nothing personal. As you’d expect, there’s no shortage of courtroom scenes, complete with the world-weary judge who keeps telling both attorneys they’re on thin ice and reluctantly allows one or two follow-up questions, but this better be relevant or there will be hell to pay. You know how it goes. We all know how it goes. Sometimes it’s enough just to enjoy the trip.
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