The Mandate - Blu-Ray

Film: Fifteen years ago, Matthew McConaughey wowed audiences as a young lawyer with big ideals in the suspenseful judicial thriller The Jury. In 2011, McConaughey now returns to the genre, but in The Mandate he embodies a criminal defense attorney who seems to be the exact opposite of the character in the 1996 John Grisham film adaptation.

For Mick Haller is anything but a conventional lawyer. He conducts his business from his car, an old Lincoln Continental, and often has unexpected success due to his one hand washes the other mentality. His clients are mostly small-time crooks, prostitutes and drug dealers. But one day Mick gets an extremely lucrative offer, far above the level of his usual cases: to defend Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe), son of wealthy and influential family. Louis is accused of rape and attempted murder. The circumstantial evidence points to the young man's innocence and the fat fee makes Mick throw all doubts overboard. But just when he thinks he can walk away victorious once again, the tide turns and suddenly this client turns out to be his most difficult and dangerous case ever.

Brad Furman has directed a judicial thriller that is old-fashioned in the best sense with The Client. Therefore, if you know a little about the genre, you won't really be surprised by the story itself. Especially since the actual resolution is revealed quite quickly. But that's not a big deal and doesn't really have a negative impact on the film's entertainment value. On the contrary: within the familiar setting the cleverness of the script and the class of the production can fully unfold. The point here is not to be misled by constant twists and turns. Rather, the good actors and the dense staging should provide suspense and entertainment. And this is undoubtedly accomplished.

The cat-and-mouse game that The Client mutates into at the end doesn't really reach the class of Twilight with Richard Gere, which is comparable in this respect. But thanks to the very good acting especially by Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Phillippe it's just fun to follow the story and watch Mick in his desperate fight for justice. However, those hoping for fast-paced action sequences will be rather disappointed. Long dialogues, quiet moments and discreetly used tension dominate here. When it does get more fast-paced, however, this works all the better.

Great actors, a good script and excellent staging make Der Mandant seem fresh and unspent despite its rather old-fashioned flair and the not really new story. If you're looking for a thriller of the entertaining kind and no-frills entertainment, you should definitely sit down with Mick Haller in his Lincoln. Because there, suspense, wit and cleverness are guaranteed. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The technical implementation of the Blu-Ray is on a very good level. Although there are small point deductions here and there in the image sharpness, but overall the picture quality captures the atmosphere of L.A. and the story set there well. The same goes for the sound, which provides pleasant dynamics in the home theater, especially through coherently implemented ambient sounds and minor sound effects. Good!

Extras: The Blu-Ray has some worth seeing extras in the program. While the nearly 13-minute making of barely rises above promotional standard, the two featurettes with Michael Connelly, the author of the novel, offer much more interest. In the first short documentary, Connelly takes the viewer on a tour of his Los Angeles for just under 10 minutes. The second featurette is a courtroom-taped conversation between the author and the lead actor of the film adaptation (about 5 minutes). The whole thing is a bit short, but still more substantial than the making of.

In addition, there are four interviews with actors and the director (about 30 min.), some short cut scenes (about 5 min.), the trailer for the film, and other programming tips from the provider. Good.

Conclusion: The Client is an old-fashioned thriller in the best sense of the word, which scores with good actors, a suspenseful story and a gripping production. The Blu-ray is technically on a good level, the extras are sometimes a bit ad-heavy, but not uninteresting and well worth watching. All this makes this release for friends of cultivated thriller entertainment absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp