Matthew McConaughey keeps his shirt on and leads an excellent ensemble cast through legal murky waters in the court room thriller The Lincoln Lawyer.

McConaughey is an actor whose talent has been constantly undercut by his choice of movies. Too many romantic comedies and not enough solid material like his latest The Lincoln Lawyer, which reunites the Texan with the court room thriller, a once prominent sub-genre that features amongst its highlights the 1996 movie A Time to Kill which broke McConaughey into the mainstream.

Based on the book written by popular crime novelist Michael Connelly, the meaning of The Lincoln Lawyer is explained in the film’s opening credits, with McConaughey rolling in his mobile office to the groovy and prophetic sounds of “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City” by Bobby Blue Bland.

McConaughey stars as Mick Haller, a slick and opportunistic defence attorney who lands the jackpot when asked to represent Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe), a rich kid realtor charged with assault and attempted murder of a prostitute.

Yet as always with these films not all is black and white, and soon Mick finds himself struggling with personal guilt and the shady nature of his profession, as all sides begin to blur into a murky mess which he needs to navigate in order to survive.

What follows are the usual twists and turns, yet under the direction of Brad Furman The Lincoln Lawyer is a fun and thrilling watch, backed by a great screenplay by John Romano (who also wrote the quick witted Intolerable Cruelty) and a levy of interesting characters, where everyone from the jailhouse snitch (always entertaining character actor She Whigham) and perhaps the sleaziest witness to ever takes the stand (Eric Etebari) all have something to contribute.

An excellent ensemble cast all deliver memorable performances, with special mention to William H. Macy as a quick witted investigator and Michael Pena as a hard done by prisoner. Yet it is McConaughey who is the face and heart of The Lincoln Lawyer, using that easy charm and magnetic screen presence to full effect.

Hopefully his solid performance will mark a change in his career trajectory.