Polemic and sensational

Rating: 10/10 (27 February 2000)

An excellent story line, brilliant performances and amazing sequences made this film a surprising success in 1997. The director Taylor Hackford transformed the Andrew Neiderman's novel into the most incredible story about human weakness.
The film stars Keanu Reeves as the lawyer Kevin Lomax that receives a great offer by the unpredictable John Milton (Al Pacino) to work for his big company in New York. He and his wife Mary Ann (the young and talented Charlize Theron) leave Gainesville and see their lives transformed into the most terrible nightmare. The dialogues between Kevin and Milton are extraordinary, specially the last one when the Devil says that Kevin was responsible for every bad thing that happened to him. God gave us free will and he could have made other choices, but he was too ambitious to do so.
Although the story line is terrific, the best thing about this film is Al Pacino. The star of `Scent of a woman'(Oscar for best male performance) is simply perfect as John Milton. His performance is so convincing that I have seen the movie more than five times just to admire his talent and that is why I recommend it.