How much would it cost to buy your silence? Do you have a price? Many people think that everyone has a price. The Good Lawyer (Un Bon Avocat), by director Tristan Séguéla, asks audiences to wrestle with those questions, but takes far too long to ask. While The Good Lawyer has an important message, it’s hard to see it amid its own confusing identity crisis.
Léonard Landry (Laurent Lafitte) is a drug addict who has spent a long time fueling his addiction by taking cases that give him more access. In the opening shots of The Good Lawyer, Léonard juggles his crippling addiction with an overbooked court docket. He shows up to court late, interrupts the judge to make his point, and leaves just as quickly to get a bump before heading into another judge’s court.
Get BWT in your inbox!
Get BWT in your inbox!
By the end of the day, he’s mixing up clients and case details. He can’t remember which judge he’s standing before, and eventually he overdoses on cocaine while arguing a cocaine possession case. After spending three weeks in rehab without ever showing up to a meeting, he checks out and immediately starts working to repair his damaged reputation.
It takes The Good Lawyer far too long to show Noé’s moral compass.
Along for the ride is an intern he hires to ensure he stays clean, by force if necessary, while he faces drug charges. Noé (Anthony Bajon) is 31 and hasn’t taken the bar exam yet. No firms have taken him seriously, so despite his reservations and knowing Léonard is also using him, he agrees to help.
Léonard is clearly a master manipulator. When the opportunity arises for him to leverage one case against another, he sees an opportunity to use several people, including attorneys, clients, and even Noé, to get what he wants. Noé is the true protagonist of The Good Lawyer. His moral compass, even in his complicity, rings louder than any one character in the entire film.
The problem is that it takes The Good Lawyer far too long to make that the point of the film. Early on, it feels like a movie about a shady lawyer who’s only in it for number one; and it is. Then it feels like an action thriller for a while, because it kind of is.
Lafitte and Bajon aren’t bad actors, but they, like their co-stars, are victims of bad writing.
Only when Noé has to sit with the wildly uncomfortable truth of his employer’s actions does The Good Lawyer finally find its voice. Unfortunately, that moment comes over halfway through the film. The final act, which resolves this convoluted scheme, comes together horribly fast, and then it’s over.
In addition to the less-than-perfect storytelling choices, the casting leaves something to be desired, too. Laurent Lafitte and Anthony Bajon do very well portraying the two leads, but they’re the exception. It’s not that any of the actors are bad; just that the characters they portray are one-dimensional and that one dimension is flat.
It’s frustrating because Lafitte and Bajon aren’t bad actors, but they, like their co-stars, are also victims of writing that waits too long to be good. Lafitte has an epic scene that truly cements his performance with less than 30 minutes left. Bajon gets one too, and it’s even later in the film.
The Good Lawyer’s conclusion leaves several threads related to Léonard’s past unresolved.
The villains of the film are very paint-by-numbers. They bring nothing compelling to the story. A giant mega corporation involved in a foreign mess isn’t exactly original. Lawyers already get a bad rap for being dishonest and unscrupulous, but Leonard and others lean directly into that stereotype, while Noé is the only person to challenge it.
Still, there’s an incredibly rich message buried underneath all the problems. What kind of person are you going to be? How much does it take to silence your integrity? Anyone who stays for that much of the film is treated to a worthwhile conclusion, but the journey to get that far is long and arduous.
And, as good as it is, The Good Lawyer’s conclusion leaves several threads related to Léonard’s past unresolved. Having spent much of his career as nothing but their pawn, it’s hard to imagine that they’re simply going to let their favorite drug addict go.
Unfortunately, The Good Lawyer is a mess.
No, the people who used and abused Léonard for years would likely keep showing up, harassing, and threatening him as often as they desire. They have already shown they have a difficult relationship with boundaries. It’s hard to imagine that changing post-credits.
Hidden away for anyone to find is a great message about integrity, morality, and the human cost of compromise. The Good Lawyer is at its best when it remembers that. Unfortunately, The Good Lawyer is enough of a mess that many viewers may not stick around long enough to see that. The sad truth is that The Good Lawyer is a great message but not a great movie.
The Good Lawyer is streaming now on Netflix.
Rating
The sad truth is that The Good Lawyer is a great message but not a great movie.
