Matthew McConaughey must really dish out the jibes on set. Rarely a week goes by without a former co-star appearing on Letterman or Conan O'Brien prepared to broadside the guy with impressions, mockery and 'any excuse to take his shirt off' jokes. As Matt Damon points out, the Texan's got an excellent excuse: 'if it's summertime it gets kinda hawt, and we'll probably get more chicks if we take our shirts off'.

And what a great excuse to see McConaughey have a crack at breaking his newfound rom-com mould as The Lincoln Lawyer.

Operating his criminal defence firm from the back of an early model Lincoln town car, cunning swindler Mick Haller (McConaughey) lands a lucrative high-profile case in Beverly Hills real estate tycoon Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillipe), accused of rape and assault. Did he do it? Haller taps his vast web of contacts (most of whom possess hugely conflicting interests) to piece the case together, including the mother of his child who conveniently works for the District Attorney (Marisa Tomei), and a savvy PI (the always excellent William H Macy). The trail heats up, and Haller's own conflicting interests end up putting him in much more threatening situations than he initially predicted.

McConaughey's depiction of Haller is altogether adequate. He's smooth enough to be a hero lawyer, Southern enough to be a little bit dodgy, and Matthew McConaughey enough to get straight women to the cinema. The role doesn't really test him out - Haller's emotional gamut spans suspicious to angry and not much in between - but he could have made it a little bit more than it was. I never got the distinct impression that the stakes were high.

Unfortunately, the stakes (or lack thereof) could be equally attributed to the on-screen dialogue. At times clumsy, more often beating-you-across-the-chops-with-it obvious, the text didn't facilitate a true sense of tension. But then again, when you've got the guy responsible for screenplay gems like single eps of Monk and L.A. Law, and the utterly forgettable Nights In Rodanthe (John Romano) you shouldn't expect the dialogue of Oscar Wilde.

Criticisms aside, it's great to see under-utilised or underrated stars like Phillipe, Macy, John Leguizamo and Frances Fisher on screen. They are a good enough reason to see the film by themselves, and honestly the major reason why I trekked into the Brisbane CBD for the screening. The talented Phillipe is a time bomb. The guy's waiting for a middle-aged breakout role. It's gonna happen.

If you can see past the writing and the seasickness-inducing intense handicam moments (seriously, Hollywood - invest in some steadicam rigs for your crime films!) there's a solidly enjoyable story in Lincoln Lawyer, told by some great actors. Watchable without being fantastic, good without being great, The Lincoln Lawyer is like Matthew McConaughey with his shirt on. Or so my girlfriend tells me.