Matthew McConaughey is such a paradox to me. He's a sufer-dude in life, and on-screen, he often plays someone who hasn't quite grown up (epitomized by the awful-looking Failure to Launch). But in a world of boys, he's got really manly looks, he's one of the most grown-up looking actors of his age, outside of George Clooney. And he's so often best in movies where he's angry, frightened, pretending to be masterful, even where he has to be physically powerful. Such appears to potentially be the case in The Lincoln Lawyer:
The concept is window-dressing, the point is McConaughey going toe-to-toe with another actor who is often better when he's under pressure or dissembling for a part, Ryan Phillipe. McConaughey has a terrific, expressive mouth: it can flare into a brilliant smile or purse into an expression of tightly-controlled rage or suspicion. Phillipe has those angry, hooded eyes, too: they interfere with him being a slight romantic hero, but they're very good for putting insincerity into a smile, or in making him look very serious when he's telling a substantial lie. He was good in Stop-Loss but great in Breach, a role that required more control.
I hope both men will embrace a Clooney-like strategy, and look for roles that are about the challenges of being a complete man. Love is part of it, like knowing how to confront a snow leopard when your katana is frozen in its scabbard. But there are other things in life, and in the movies, than being some broad's method of self-actualization.