Smart in its use of the devil as its villain--and great performances. *** out of ****

Rating: 7/10 (26 July 1999)

THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE (1997) ***
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron, Craig T. Nelson, Connie Nielsen, and Jeffrey Jones Director: Taylor Hackford 144 minutes 1997 Rated R
By Blake French:
"The Devil's Advocate" is like an HBO Friday night guilty pleasure movie. It gets so many things right on the money, from suspense to gore to how the devil really does work. Most of the time movies exaggerate monsters and myths, legends and killings. But Taylor Hackford gets his information correct: Satan is not a red colored monster with horns and a spiky tail, but a deceptive, conniving, individual in disguise and lives everywhere. Thus, "The Devil's Advocate" is so smart it's scary.
The story is something to see. It is so wonderful and evenly laid out. It stars Keanu Reeves as Kevin Lomax, a young successful defense lawyer who, with his wife Mary Ann (a flawless and emotionally charged Charlize Theron), has recently moved to New York in order to hit it big with his occupation.

And that is exactly what happens. He soon stumbles upon a powerful man named John Milton in charge of the cities biggest and best defense attorneys. He offers Kevin a deal, a beautiful office, a competitive wage, and bang, he his in goodbut he doesn't know yet how good he actually is in yet.
Then things begin to happen. Bad things. Horrible things. Mostly to Mary Ann, Kevin's wife who has meet a friend, Christabella, who isn't quite who she seems to be. Then come the experiences: She hears someone in the house while alone at night that turns out to be a small child who isn't quite as innocent as she seems. Then the visions of people being brutally killed appear in her mind. Then the loneliness, such a big, cold apartment with no husband to share it with, for he is always at work. Such things may or may not lead to other events that trigger an involving series of happenings which make this subplot almost more interesting that the real story itself.

Then come the criminals who the wondering Kevin witness as they walk away from a case that surly points to their guilt. And then the temptations that he is lured with every day at work. It is when his wife doesn't something drastic when he questions just exactly is his new boss, and where exactly did he come from.
The film is very interesting from beginning to end, and is certainly different than your typical horror/slasher movie. This one doesn't overdue the gore, but puts in more than enough to turn a head. The violence is harsh and cruel, only proving what powers this character in control has. The sexual orientation is a bit over the top, and yes, this film is adult with every atom of it's being, but to put in such copious amount of nudity and sexual content is still a little much. But once again, is only present to make clear that the devil works with enticement and lust, rather than sucking his victims in with force.
Al Pacino is delicious and devilishly on target as Satan himself; I personally could not think of someone better to cast. He is, however, a little aggressive. The film works because of the way it uses the devil as its protagonist. But Pacino seems to push the evil and demonic qualities, like his voice at times, and kind of destroys the concept of why this movie succeeds. Don't get me wrong, his performance is near perfect, but a little off the film's accomplishment.
Keanu Reeves is well casted also. He performs confidentially like a real lawyer would, and seems to be knowledgeable in his territory. I also found Charlize Theron's performance to be superb. And going from this to "Might Joe Young" is an awful big change in pace. But this performance not only proves that she can conquer characters in horror thrillers better than family adventures, but also that she can perform with depth and depression, with feeling and emotional impact. I find her Oscar capable.

There is one major problem in "The Devil's Advocate" that struck me as a shock. The film runs well over two hours and gets pretty tedious at times. But the flaw comes with the film's finale: the movie builds up so much for a powerful confrontation between Lomax and Hilton a.k.a. Satan at the end, that it somehow actually finishes in an ending that lasts but ten minutes, and only succeeds to prove it's overall message: you can't mess with a man's free will. There Is character tension, but it is used with dialogue instead of physical contact, and only the last fragment accomplishes anything that it should. This closing is mostly a disappointment. But that's permissible because I am not recommending "The Devil's Advocate" for the closing scenes, but for the acting, the cleverness of the story, and the use of Satan as its villain, in an altogether adequate movie on Taylor Hackford's credits.