Hell of a thriller

Rating: 9/10 (11 September 2006)

Young hotshot attorney Kevin Lomax has a perfect winning streak in court, a beautiful wife, and after winning his latest case - which initially looked hopeless - in defending a sexual criminal, he is offered to come out to New York to part of a powerful law firm. It is all that a young attorney would ever dream about, but things are not what they seem.
Keanu Reeves gives a good performance, probably his best as of yet, as Kevin Lomax and Charlize Theron is typically good as Lomax's wife who slowly slips into schizophrenia. But the real show stopper is Al Pacino, as John Milton, in what can only be called a terrifying performance of pure evil that makes Gordon Gekko look like a girl scout doing community service. Al Pacino is not short on tour-de-force performances, but here he gives the world another one.
The film is superbly directed by Taylor Hackford with an increasingly intense atmosphere. Inserting demonic imagery and haunting theme, you'll be wondering just what the hell is going on... right up to the devilishly clever climax. 9/10
Rated R for violence, strong sexual content and profanity