Mickey Haller was a name well known to fans of Michael Connelly’s novels long before Netflix made a fixture of him on the small screen. However, it was 2011 when the movie world was first introduced to the brilliant but flawed lawyer. The Lincoln Lawyer movie starred Matthew McConaughey as its lead, and it wasn’t a flop by any stretch. In fact, commercially, it more than doubled its budget, and scored an impressive 84% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

That wasn’t much of a surprise though. Leaving aside the popularity of the books, the film still featured a stellar cast with the likes of Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe, Bryan Cranston, John Leguizamo, Michael Peña, and William H. Macy. But despite all its positives the movie was largely forgotten, and never garnered the kind of hype that made it conducive to sequels. Connelly, a specialist detective novel writer, had found his shift into legal fiction just as popular, so it seemed The Lincoln Lawyer novel series needed better treatment than to just be screened and forgotten.

Enter Netflix. Ever since the streaming giant adapted the novels into an ongoing legal drama series, they’ve unleashed its full potential. In comparison to the relative ambivalence audiences showed the movie, the show has gone on to become one of Netflix’s most popular around. This has led many to question exactly what makes The Lincoln Lawyer show so much better than the movie?

A Better Format Than the Film

The first thing fans of either the show or movie need to know about the difference between them is that they’re not related. Yes, the characters from both feature in Michael Connelly’s novel series, but the movie was based on the first novel in the series, whereas the show departed from there. Rather than a continuation or a remake, the show reinvents past plots to give the story and Mickey Haller, a fresh start to follow the plots of later books through the series.

The series also allowed for much more scope from its format alone. As much as the film featured heavyweight actors, some of whom were very bankable stars, the series provides far greater scope for character development. No matter how long or good the movie was, it was always limited by the fact that it had to be self-contained, essentially restricting itself to the case it featured. The many stars simply had limited screentime other than McConaughey.

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On the other hand, each season of the show so far has allowed for a different case. More importantly, the chief characters’ backstories, interpersonal relationships, and individual nuances could all be explored with greater depth since there’s plenty of screen time for each. Since the show has proven popular it’s been renewed again, so the opportunities to keep building on the characters and exploring different novels continue to grow.

In fact, Michael Connelly himself confirmed in an interview with Netflix why he preferred a series format for his books.

“So being a novelist who writes character-based legal thrillers, this became a pitch right over the plate. To be able to take a book and a character and tell a story over ten episodes instead of having to condense and condense a novel into a 100-minute movie, I would take that any day of the week. It is the best way to serve the character of Mickey Haller to have all this time and space to dig in and dig down deep into character and motivation. It really has changed my view of taking my stories to Hollywood.”

A Fresh Cast​​​

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Given the fact that The Lincoln Lawyer was a one-off movie, it banked on talented and recognizable stars to drive it. Those stars were successful, with each of them giving a great account of themselves in the film. However, quality of actor over best fit for the role also seemed to play a part in the casting choices since some of the characters were very different in the books.

The most glaring example was of course Mikey Haller himself. No one who saw Matthew McConaughey’s portrayal of the character had anything terrible to say about it — after all, he’s such a likable and talented actor. However, casting choices like Matthew McConaughey were proof that the film chose star names over loyalty to the books.

Mickey Haller is a Mexican-American character, so having a white actor play him seemed almost disrespectful to the character’s heritage. The show acts as a tonic to such inaccuracies as it returned the character to his true self, with the brilliant Manuel Garcia-Rulfo proving to be a perfect choice to play him instead.

Of course, the likes of Neve Campbell, Beckie Newton, and Jazz Raycole further augment the show’s appeal. With each of the main Lincoln Lawyer cast members coming together to provide one great collective, they too have played a significant part in its success.

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The David E. Kelley Effect

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After writing an initial script for the show, famed show runner David E. Kelley had to watch as the show fell into development purgatory. Between the COVID-19 pandemic and CBS pulling out of their commitment to the show, for a time, it seemed like it would never come to fruition.

Thankfully, Netflix saw the potential in Kelley’s work, and Connelly’s clout among his fans, and picked up the series for their platform. It proved to be a brilliant move — Lincoln Lawyer has quickly become one of the most popular shows on the streaming service, racking up record numbers among viewers.

However, it wasn’t just the books, or the show’s clever and engaging plots that worked, but David E. Kelley’s instincts that brought it all together. Kelley is of course well known for his reliability when it comes to churning out brilliant legal dramas. Some of his previous turns with such shows include the highly popular Boston Legal, The Practice, and Ally McBeal. Given his track record, it’s no surprise that he produced such a gem with this one.

A Different Vibe

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There’s a fair few factors that coalesce to make The Lincoln Lawyer series much better than the movie. One of them that can’t easily be described is the way a show can better capture the vibe of a book.

Anyone who’s read the novels knows that there’s a certain atmosphere that prevails in them, and a softer tone that went with it. The film, as great as it was, got this tone woefully wrong at times. By featuring things like an upbeat soundtrack and a vibe that seemed to reflect Haller as a cool cat only, it lacked the depth the character came with.

Hip-hop tunes, and a more fast-paced rhythm to the movie gave it an overall tone that never properly fit. On the other hand, the series chose a more circumspect tone and often gave credence to Haller’s flaws as much as it did his positive traits. This gave the show a grittier realism of sorts, which matched the source material more closely and delighted original fans of the books.

Whatever the main reasons, the show’s continued success clearly makes it a step above the film. With the story continuing to grow and develop, and another season recently wrapped, fans can’t wait to see how much more it will evolve and how much more it has yet to offer.