Law with (some) Heart

Ten minutes into The Lincoln Lawyer, with Mick Haller (Matthew McConnaughey’s) Southern drawl and some mildly interesting small town goings-on, I was wondering if this was a movie worth watching till the end. And how! This is the movie of the classical twist. Mick is not exactly the epitome of virtue – making a living from defending small town criminals in court, while operating out of a Lincoln car. But even he draws the line at the marginally criminal, and Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe) crosses that threshold - or does he? An unabashed treat to watch, and in the spirit of competition among lawyer movies as it were, perhaps leaves the entire Grisham bandwagon high and dry

16/20

Old Wine

Vincent Brazil (Jean Claude Van Damme) still has the mojo. He looks his age but he hunts and kills like a man half his age. Assassination Games begins profiling Vincent - the killer that is done with a life of violence – living with his now paralyzed wife in a quiet corner of the world. And what could motivate Vincent to one last assignment than getting rid of the scourge called Polo Yakur (Ivan Kaye), who has just been released from prison, and was the inflictor of much wrong upon the Brazil family. In comes the copybook assassination attempt – and fails – with the revelation of one more assassin - Ronald Flint (Scott Atkins) - in contention. Flint and Brazil team up, but it takes more than the assassination skill-set to track down and eliminate the common target. Expectedly quite clichéd, but in the end reckoning a fast paced action movie that can definitely hold its own

12.5/20

The Peoples Princess.. er, President

For a nation that prides itself on being the guiding light for egalite', the realityis that there has been no female (US) President till date. Commander in Chief seeks to undo that inequity, albeit only in a TV series. The talented Mackenzie Allen (Geena Davis), who is everything that a copybook woman politician should be except overtly political, finds herself holding the highest office in the land in rather fortuitous circumstances. And immediately upon taking office, she has to toe the line on several issues of global import that her feminine charm helps handle with more than a little elan. Strictly for casual viewing, and kid-gloves approach to realpolitik not recommended for dealing with real life crises

11/20

Rudy Little

Sean Astin, later to become the eponymous Samwise Gamjee, is the large-hearted but diminutive Daniel E Ruettiger aka Rudy in the movie of the same name. Never the one with great grades, Rudy is the quintessential underdog, a worker in a steel mill, with a continuing dream of studying in the University of Notre Dame and playing for The Irish - the football team of the same college, that is #1 ranked in the country. Unbelievably, with a bit of a helping hand from various well-wishers, Rudy makes his way to Notre Dame, and does all but actually play for its football team. And then that, too, comes to pass. Rudy is often quoted as a testament to what a single man’s tenacity can accomplish, and no one can take away from the protagonist's achievements. The only exception - actually playing for the team for a fleeting few minutes - that wee bit smacked more than a little of patronage.

13/20