The Good Lawyer Review
Director: Tristan Séguéla
Date Created: 2026-11-09 20:06
3
The Good Lawyer Review: Directed by Tristan Séguéla, Netflix’s French legal drama Un bon avocat stars Laurent Lafitte as Léonard Landry, alongside Anthony Bajon as Noé, Mélanie Laurent as Iris Saint-Didier, and Carole Bouquet as Anne Lamarck. The supporting cast includes Gédéon Ekay, Béatrice Facquer, and others.
The Good Lawyer Review
Netflix’s The Good Lawyer focuses on Léonard Landry, a criminal lawyer who has enjoyed success in his career due to his arrogance and reputation, which have helped him commit many things. But too much cocaine and alcohol eventually led to his downfall when he is arrested at work due to being unable to manage two court cases at once. After recovering from his addiction, Léonard is called for a hearing that may end his career. With only one week before his case, he recruits a law student named Noé as his intern and hires Iris, his ex-wife, to help him with his defence.
The situation gets further complicated when an energy company that belongs to Anne Lamarck gets involved in the matter because of its connection with violent gangs in Africa. Suddenly, saving his career becomes a much bigger challenge than simply defending himself. The issues of Léonard start right off the bat. He is self-assured, reckless, always drunk, and somehow thinks that being talented in what he does is a ticket for any sort of behaviour he wishes. Despite the fact that it is obvious that his personal life is influencing his professional life, he still acts as though he is always able to outwit all consequences. This makes him a fascinating character to observe in the movie.
What I liked most about the Netflix French movie The Good Lawyer is Léonard’s professional arrogance that is almost ridiculous when contrasted with his personal life. This is a person who spends all his working time defending people who committed very serious crimes and knows all the legal ways and nuances in order to find a loophole and oppose any arguments from his opponents. However, at the same time, he is unable to manage himself at least half as well as he manages all other things.
Léonard trying to deal with two cases simultaneously, in spite of his deteriorating health, is a perfect example of such arrogance being his greatest vulnerability. Léonard is not stupid or ignorant. He just fails to understand that sometimes one should know when to stop. Nonetheless, I believe that the Netflix movie The Good Lawyer could have made a lot more out of Léonard’s condition. Alcoholism and drug addiction are not just side elements of the main character’s biography; they are the cause of the professional catastrophe which the whole plot revolves around.
However, when Léonard comes out of rehab, the story is mostly focused on dealing with the legal issues of its hero rather than trying to understand what the process of recovery means for such a person. The presence of Noé as the intern who is also supposed to prevent Léonard from self-destruction leads to quite a funny situation, yet it also makes the element of recovery seem quite convenient. The bond between Léonard and Noé is undoubtedly one of the best parts of the movie. The first thing to say is that their partnership begins under rather peculiar circumstances, since Léonard doesn’t engage his help with any intent of educating a budding lawyer.
Léonard wants somebody to drive him, help him in his affairs, and ultimately supervise him. Noé does not seem to be thrilled by the prospect of getting mixed up in the problems of a man who apparently does not care much about his health. Their different natures provide the movie with some of its most enjoyable scenes. Léonard is a bit too spontaneous and impulsive, but Noé manages to add some measure of balance, which the old lawyer lacks. What I like about this part is that their relationship acquires meaning beyond the ordinary relationship between an employer and his employee. Noé gets involved in Léonard’s troubles, and their communication adds some emotional dimension to the plot.
Yet another character that provides an intriguing layer to Léonard’s life is Iris, his ex-wife. Iris knows Léonard too well not to see through his attempts to convince others and himself of his competence. There is always a certain undertone to their interactions, as there is obviously something in their past. Besides, Iris doesn’t seem like the type of person who will make things easier for Léonard, as she definitely won’t make any concessions in order to help him out. What I liked about her was that she has her own job and doesn’t appear as a mere rescuer of the hero.
Furthermore, her link to the Anne Lamarck Company makes her part of the bigger business intrigue. Nevertheless, it would have been nice to learn more about her relationship with Léonard. It is the corporate narrative regarding Anne Lamarck which attempts to take the movie beyond the lawyer’s personal struggle in his life. The allegations of the energy company’s complicity in dealings with Congolese warlords and the non-government organisation fighting against the energy company raise issues of corporate responsibility, exploitation, and the power of the rich and influential people to impact the legal process.
Perhaps the most interesting information other than that regarding Léonard himself is that because of how complex the question of justice becomes when there are people involved with great wealth and influence. The movie clearly recognises that the legal dispute is not merely an issue of deciding who is right or wrong. But it was also here that I found the story getting overly packed. With Léonard’s disciplinary proceedings, his addiction, the complex love story between him and Iris, the multinational company, the NGO, the retaliation, his old clients, and the criminal world, there are just too many elements vying for attention.
Individually, each of them could have been used as a basis for an interesting legal thriller. Taken all together, sometimes they seem to turn the story into a mad rush from one complication to the next without giving each of them enough room to breathe. And then there are some things that just take a bit of believing to be true – especially since Léonard finds himself in so many dangerous situations which he himself causes. Where performance is concerned, one thing is sure: Laurent Lafitte is the biggest reason for the French movie The Good Lawyer’s entertainment value. This actor knows how to portray Léonard’s self-assurance without making him too unbearable to look at.
Laurent is capable of giving an amusing touch to his approach to any situation, no matter how disastrous it may be for him, portraying him as a man who always has things under control. Nevertheless, there is enough desperation in the performance of Lafitte to show that this confidence becomes increasingly difficult to retain. Anthony Bajon plays Noé in an amusing manner, in contrast to the behaviour of Léonard. Mélanie Laurent portrays Iris in a suitable firm manner, while Carole Bouquet succeeds in portraying Anne Lamarck.
Netflix The Good Lawyer Review: Summing Up
In the end, 2026 The Good Lawyer movie proves to be a decent legal thriller with a fascinating lead character and some great moments in terms of character interaction. I appreciated the way in which the movie has managed to intertwine the fall of a lawyer with a broader tale of corporate influence and the intricate system of justice. Unfortunately, the movie lacks the courage to delve into the subject of Léonard’s drug abuse and tends to have too many complications.
