WEIRDLAND: Matthew McConaughey in 'The Lincoln Lawyer': I like whiffs of cynicism

Monday, March 28, 2011

Matthew McConaughey in 'The Lincoln Lawyer': I like whiffs of cynicism

"Men forgot the men he played. Women, those who could stand the rakish, insulting representations of their supposed heart's desire, whittled their expectations as he tripped from one gorgeous, spoiled, obtuse version of a man to another.

Matthew McConaughey as Rick Peck in "Tropic Thunder" (2008)

But McConaughey also played a fang-toting, weird-beard dragon slayer in Reign of Fire, a skeezy sheriff in the underappreciated John Sayles classic Lone Star, a ballsy submariner in the tricky, fun World War II thriller U-571; he even stole part of the show as the morally torn TiVo-toting super-agent in Tropic Thunder. These roles cannot be forgotten.

Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves arrive at the 'The Lincoln Lawyer' LA Screening at ArcLight Cinemas on March 10, 2011

Now, after two years off, he's back with three movies that ought to get him kicked off the Kate Hudson Express once and for all: The Lincoln Lawyer, a wheeling courtroom drama that opened in March, followed by Bernie, a Richard Linklater comedy, and the shoot-'em-up Killer Joe, about a man who takes a hit out on his mother.

Matthew McConaughey as Mick Haller in "The Lincoln Lawyer" (2011)

So McConaughey has taken another turn, and it's perfectly okay to root for the guy again. Fact is, he deserves it.

"I'm not going to trip myself running downhill," he says. "I did that at times of my life. When I first got famous, it was odd. Pow-pow-pow-pow. Opportunities. That's why I got the hell out of Dodge and went to Peru. Till I felt like I could stay there."

"Nine to thirteen days," I say.

He pokes me then — bip — right in the ribs. "Hey, did I answer your question about cynicism?"

"I like quips," he says. "I like whiffs of cynicism and I think they can be witty. But I don't really know where wittiness is constructive. I also don't think it's half as funny as real behavior — as action, as falling on your face when you're trying to tackle something."

That I want to write down. I have the recorder running, but I pull out a pencil and take a single note. "I haven't seen you touch a pen to paper all weekend," he says.

I nod. This is my habit. "Pencil," I say.

"You're an observer," he says. Source: www.esquire.com