made me want to become a lawyer

Rating: 8/10 (23 February 2004)

This movie is basically about a lawyer working for Satan. How stereotypical, right? Lawyers in the service of the devil, how original...However, this movie is actually pretty decent considering. A far cry from more accurate, albeit still immensely fake, depictions of lawyers like Law & Order, The Devil's Advocate is the story of a man, played by Keanu Reeves, who goes from obscurity all the way to the top, with the help of Satan, of course. The acting is decent, with Al Pacino being the highlight (as always). Charlize Theron plays Reeves' wife. She does a pretty decent job and she's definitely attractive.
This is definitely not your average John Grisham based movie. The focus is more on the characters and not the law itself. Do not expect a traditional legal thriller. In the same sense, however, do not expect a true horror movie either. This movie is a half-hearted attempt at both, without getting either one right. It reminds me of The Ninth Gate, in that respect. Not scary or really thrilling but still interesting.
I think I liked this movie as much as I did because I identified with the main character, as I am interested in becoming a lawyer. For those who are not interested in law or are not lawyers, this movie may prove to be significantly less interesting and less enjoyable. All in all, a decent film. I give it a 8 out of 10. For others though, I expect the rating to be lower, more like a 5 or so.
Also, I'd like to point out that the accent Keanu Reeves has is probably the worst southern accent I've ever heard, especially since he's supposed to be from Gainesville, FL, my place of birth, and few people in Gainesville actually have accents, let alone that one.