How good is Matthew McConaughey in this movie? Best Actor nomination
good. This is the Matthew we've been waiting for: the goofball dude
grown up — and now an artist. Here, he seizes the screen with his
magnetic likeableness in inventive ways from start to finish,
including one stunning moment of pure silence. This crime and
courtroom thriller is like the marriage of Hitchcock's I Confess and
Pacino's …And Justice for All. It's a solid, if familiar story —
made glorious by a killer cast, one better than the next, with special
props to creepy weasel Ryan Phillippe as Matthew's foil/client. It all
unfolds like one of the greatest Perry Mason episodes you ever saw,
and since the cast is so strong and so large, each new scene brings a
fresh someone who's fun to watch. We have reached a verdict: this
movie is terrific. — Jeff Schultz