The Good Lawyer Review: What happens when a well-known lawyer with a ton of enemies finds his life destroyed after a faux pas leaves his bad behaviour exposed to the world? For criminal defence lawyer Léonard Landry, things go out of hand as he overdoses in front of everyone while working on two cases. His professional confidence hides a destructive personal life, but when everything is exposed, and he finds himself answering for his sins on the other side of the law, the truth about his lack of control over his own life comes to the forefront.
The premise of The Good Lawyer exposes a very interesting contradiction wherein he sees someone whose job is to defend others finding himself vulnerable in his own workplace. Through this, the film gets a chance to explore accountability, professional ethics, and the complicated relationship between personal weakness and public responsibility.
The cast includes Laurent Lafitte, Anthony Bajon, Mélanie Laurent, Carole Bouquet, Gédéon Ekay, and Béatrice Facquer, and the film (Un bon avocat) is directed by Tristan Séguéla.
The Good Lawyer Review
A Courtroom Thriller With More Than One Battle to Fight
The film has a lot of things going for it, and for viewers who like a little bit of everything in their courtroom dramas, this film hits the nail on the head. The narrative doesn’t just revolve around the protagonist’s upcoming trial, and focuses on a laundry list of things that add interesting layers to the narrative. Showcasing themes surrounding corporate responsibility, criminal activity, and how the rich and the powerful control the court systems, the film uses Léonard’s life circumstances to shed light on all of these issues.
Apart from this, Léonard faces issues from Iris, who is hell-bent on making his life as difficult as possible, while his colleagues, too, despise him for one reason or another. All of these threads add conflict to the scenario and make the film more tense, as Léonard has multiple things to juggle in order to save not only his professional life, but his personal one as well.
These sequences add tension to the runtime, but also become a reason why the narrative becomes overly complicated. The film tries to balance these threads, but at times viewers can feel the weight of everything happening on screen.
Laurent Lafitte Is the Film’s Biggest Strength
The most interesting part about The Good Lawyer is the protagonist himself. Léonard can hardly be called conventional – he’s arrogant, impulsive and extremely unlikeable. Not to mention, an addict. He frequently makes decisions that put both his professional and private lives at risk, including those around him. The film, to its credit, doesn’t show him in a sympathetic light, instead building the central conflict around his choices and habits.
As a result, Laurent Lafitte has to bring a lot of energy and unpleasantness through his performance, which he does extremely well. He has to balance Léonard’s unending confidence with the desperation of a man whose carefully constructed life is falling apart. The supporting cast, too, is equally good and makes the film as entertaining as it is. Anthony Bajon as Noé is an unlikely ally and makes an impression, while Mélanie Laurent is as memorable as ever as Iris Saint-Didier.
On that note, Léonard and Noé’s relationship is one of the most important and vulnerable parts of the film, and their earnest presence around one another makes for an interesting dynamic. Beyond the courtroom thrill and odd quirks, their scenes add dimension and is one of the most memorable parts.
The Film’s Biggest Drawback Is Its Reliance on Familiar Thriller Elements
The Good Lawyer is a well-paced and thrilling watch that has some hilarious moments going for it. But even with that, the film sometimes struggles to make an impact, and, by the time the end credits roll, viewers will find themselves not being completely satisfied with the outcome. The film isn’t really reinventing the courtroom drama genre, and the troubled lawyer doing bad things in a broken system is hardly anything new. The film’s appeal is in its performances and how these elements come together, and while it does get it right for the most part, there are moments when the obviousness of the plot will get to audiences.
There’s also the trouble of following a character whose questionable choices make it difficult to root for or relate to them. For most of the runtime, viewers will find themselves questioning Léonard’s actions, which makes following him difficult. Moreover, the sheer number of things that the film attempts to show us can compete for attention in the short runtime, taking away from the experience. There are also some plot points that just don’t follow an ounce of realism and can be difficult to swallow!
Final Verdict
The fast-paced narrative and great performances make it a great watch for viewers who enjoy courtroom dramas with something more in it. It’s an entertaining watch with an intriguing premise, although its genre conventions limit its originality.
Watch The Good Lawyer on Netflix. What did you think of the French courtroom thriller film? Let us know in the comments below!
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