Give the Devil his due

Rating: 7/10 (21 October 2010)

The Devil's Advocate is a film which is at times frustrating to watch. It's a movie of fits and starts, never really able to sustain its momentum over the entirety of its clearly bloated running time of almost two and a half hours. A couple of the key performances leave something to be desired. Keanu Reeves is rather stiff and unnatural but that's what you're going to get out of Keanu Reeves. In what was one of her first major roles Charlize Theron never seems entirely comfortable. She's not bad by any means but it's definitely not the kind of assured performance we would see from her later on in her career. The one key player you can't really find fault with is Al Pacino who does have the advantage of playing a role which is absolutely tailor-made for him. You worry that it's a part which may open itself up to the yelling and screaming and histrionics which have marked much of Pacino's later works. But here he plays things with much more calm and subtlety. At least until the climax when there are in fact plenty of histrionics. But for this character at that point in the movie it works. So no complaints there. And by that point the movie could use a little injection of life as things do begin to drag. Even as Pacino begins to go gleefully over the top there's the sense that things are a bit talky. You'd like to see less words, more action. But it works well enough and when the story completes its final twists there's a sense of, at the very least, satisfaction. You haven't seen a great movie but it pulls itself together enough to be deemed a success.
The story, which again could use some serious trimming as the movie goes on much too long for its own good, follows small-town Florida lawyer Kevin Lomax who has never lost a case. He is recruited by a major New York law firm so he and his lovely wife relocate to the Big Apple where we see very quickly that things are not necessarily what they seem. The head of the law firm is named John Milton and yes that name should start the alarm bells ringing. Something about this guy isn't right. Who exactly is Milton? Well that's the film's big secret, although if you've seen any of the film's promotional materials it's really not much of a secret at all. Anyhow, Lomax continues to have success but there's always the sense that Milton's pulling all the strings in the background. The interactions between these two characters are critically important and that's one of the film's bigger problems. Because Pacino, playing Milton, is so far and away a better actor than Reeves, playing Lomax, the relationship comes off as incredibly one-sided. Pacino totally owns these scenes and seeing as it's the Reeves character who's set up as the hero of the piece that's problematic. In fact Reeves always comes off second best no matter who's acting opposite him. Jeffrey Jones, Connie Nielsen, Craig T. Nelson...they all get a chance to outshine Reeves and they do just that. Eventually you just have to throw up your hands and say, "Well, that's Keanu" and move on. His interaction with Theron, playing his wife, works somewhat better so give him a little credit for that at least.
Despite its faults there is much to recommend The Devil's Advocate. It's a smart story, with lots of sharp twists and turns. The production design and visual effects are outstanding, it really is a spectacular looking movie. For whatever quibbles you may have with Reeves the rest of the cast is generally very good. Pacino's the obvious standout but there are plenty of supporting players turning in fine work as well. Yes the movie goes on too long but at least it finally arrives at a satisfying destination. You get the sense the movie could have been a little better, especially if there was a lead actor better equipped to stand toe to toe with Pacino. But ultimately it works well enough to be worth your while.