The Devil's Advocate

The Devil's Advocate

1997

Director- Taylor Hackford

Cast- Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron, Jeffrey Jones, Judith Ivey, Connie Nielsen, Craig T. Nelson, Heather Matarazzo, Tamara Tunie, Chris Bauer, Delroy Lindo

           

      Keanu Reaves plays Kevin Lomax a criminal trial lawyer who has never lost a case. His greatest strength is his uncanny ability to ignore his conscience. Charlize Theron (very good in one of her early roles) is his wife Mary Ann. After Kevin wins a case by getting a child molester off scot-free, he is offered a job working for John Milton (Pacino) a wealthy New York businessman whose interests are global, varied and a bit shady.

            

     Kevin’s mother (Ivey) is a very religious woman and she warns him of the dangers of the big city. Kevin and Mary Ann quickly scoff at this. Kevin’s first case is getting a man off that has been sacrificing goats. That was just a warm up though for his big test, defending a man (Craig T. Nelson) who murdered his family.

            

     As Kevin’s star ascends he has to ignore his conscience more and more and look the other way. His wife, however, who initially encourages him begins to have second thoughts and urges him to quit the firm. Sinister forces begin to work on her until she is eventually driven insane.

           

     Kevin finds out from his mother that Milton is actually his father and by that point in the movie it’s pretty clear that Milton is also a lot more than that. Kevin then faces a tempting offer to serve his father in the coming millennium.

            

     The movie has good performances all around. Reeve’s and Theron’s southern accents sound a little hokey at times, but then again most people think all southerners talk  like Forrest Gump, so what can you do? Theron is particularly tragic as the young wife who sees her dreams of having a family slip away with her sanity. Reeves likewise turns in a fine performance. He is convincing throughout and one is never reminded of his many action roles. Pacino is boisterous and sleazy which fits his character nicely.

            

      This is a fine film with a large, experienced cast of faces that genre fans will recognize; Jeffery Jones (Beetlejuice ,Sleepy Hollow), Connie Neilsen (Gladiator), Craig T. Nelson (Poltergeist), Heather Matarazzo (Scream 3, Hostel 2) and Chris Bauer (True Blood). It has a fine score and just a modicum of CGI (enough to enhance the film without becoming a distraction). The Devil’s Advocate is an intense, well-crafted thriller that will arouse you at times and scare and shock you at others. A long movie at over 2 hours and 20 minutes, it is well worth your time.

Fun fact- This was not Keanu's first infernal encounter. He had a brief brush with Satan in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey.