Weekly Report from the N.T.A.B. Division of Media Review

Lincoln Lawyer/Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers

Director’s Note: Media will be sparse in the coming week due to the department making the annual pilgrimage to Cross Plains, Texas to partake in the festivities at Robert E. Howard Days. We trust this won’t inconvenience you too much, and hope that you’ll take a minute or two to catch up on what you missed, add what you want to watch, and clear what you’ve already seen.

Lincoln Lawyer (Netflix)

Hotshot LA Lawyer Mickey Haller is finally recovered from the gunshot brutal surfing accident that sidelined his career. He’s now given a major leg up—a professional colleague’s entire caseload—and chief among those is a high-profile murder case. Can the Lincoln Lawyer keep all of the plates spinning and solve the mystery of what happened to his friend, as well?

Series creator David E. Kelly is no stranger to legal drama, or dramadies, or whatever you want to call them. All I know is, we were chasing the high from coming off of the new Bosch: Legacy series and started watching this, and had to pump the brakes, hard. That sounds like it’s bad, but it’s not. It’s just...it’s exactly what you’d expect from David E. Kelly.

For starters, the Michael Connolly characters have been updated to be more 2022. Not a bad thing in and of itself, but that may hamper some beloved characters down the road. Speaking of beloved characters, you know this guy is Harry Bosch’s half-brother, right? Only, from the looks of it, IMDB and Netflix won’t be playing nice, so no crossovers there. Bummer.

What we are left with is unmistakably a David E. Kelly joint, wherein all of the characters are smart-asses in exactly the same way, and despite larger concerns blowing up everywhere, the main character still makes it completely about him (which is the opposite of Bosch, and counter-intuitive for a procedural drama). Even the lighting in the interior shots looks like it was cribbed from Ally McBeal, all soft focus and warm, designed to give Calista Flockhart the illusion of human curvature.

It's certainly well-put together. The vintage Lincoln Town Car is sweet. And if you like David E. Kelly shows, he’s back, baby! If you’re looking for the next Michael Connolly project to fall in love with because you’re such a fan of the books, well, this may not be your jam.

---

Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers (Disney Plus)

The estranged chipmunks reunite (and get the band back together) to help find a friend who has gone missing.

Full disclosure: I am not this movie’s target audience. I did not watch the series when it was on, back in the day, and I generally dislike nearly every single Disney animated property, including Donald Duck. There are certain exceptions to this, not worth examining at this time, but suffice to say, I had a steep, nearly vertical, uphill climb to meet this movie where it lives. And you know what?

I loved it.

It’s not high art, but that’s sort of the point. What this movie is, is the premise from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? carried forward into the 21st century. Animated characters are being kidnapped and shipped off to Asia to be “bootlegged,” which is where they are modified (brutally in some cases) and distorted and made to star in knock-off films that are cheaply made and distributed. It’s a very meta-premise, with live humans, CGI characters, and cell-shaded animation all sharing the screen, interacting with one another, and it’s absolutely seamless.

These characters have grown up and it’s certainly a love note to their now-adult fans. The movie isn’t complicated, but there are some days when you need a cheeseburger crammed into your eyes, and this is that cheeseburger, with extra ketchup, too. Watch it on your next off night.