Creative and innovative story of temptation using the lead character as the devil in the flesh

Rating: 7/10 (7 March 2005)

Keanu Reeves is a defense attorney from Gainesville, FL who is recruited by a NY law firm whose head honcho just happens to be Satan. Striking concept - and a surprisingly striking story is what follows. This is a perfectly cast movie - even with Reeves. What isn't needed here is Reeve's "southern" accent. He's from Florida. That doesn't mean he has to have an accent. Hell, most of the people who live in Florida are from NY anyway. Pacino is perfect as an intriguing man who has it all - along with a guiltless conscious. Who wouldn't want that? Lomax does, and if he doesn't right away, Milton will make sure he does by the end. Theron is superb as Lomax's wife who goes along for the ride due to her loyalty to her broodingly successful husband.
What makes this movie work is subtle way in which John Milton is revealed as Satan, and just what in the world does he actually want Kevin Lomax for anyway? This movie would've worked just as well if the audience didn't know this fact going into the movie. It could've pulled off a "Sixth Sense" if wanted to. Nevertheless, the film keeps the audience glued to the screen in anticipation of what's going to happen next. We see Lomax's world caving in around him, and the only one who is oblivious to that fact is him. It is believable because if any one of us put ourself in his position - a top notch young lawyer with an unblemished win/loss record on the verge of his career breaking wide open depending on the outcome of his current high profile case - his first under Milton's firm, we would all act the same way. We would all be oblivious to the same signs he continues to miss - his wife's crumbling sanity, his mother's warnings, his subconscious awareness that his clients are guilty as sin.
In the end, this is a story that is told right. Sometimes our greatest villain isn't as obvious as the back of our hand.