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Overall Rating
3.73

Awesome40.91%
Worth A Look: 21.21%
Average: 18.18%
Pretty Bad: 9.09%
Total Crap: 10.61%

1 review, 60 user ratings


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Devil's Advocate, The
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by Filmink Magazine (owes us money)

"Meant to contain more special effects than ended up on screen."
3 stars

Not many filmmakers can get away with overblown melodrama quite like Taylor Hackford. Responsible for the hit An Officer and a Gentleman, Hackford has also suffered numerous misfires like Against All Odds. He has also dabbled in producing, including the box-office smash La Bamba and the recent Oscar winning doco When We Were Kings. He's like Oliver Stone but with bigger balls, more nous and less creative talent.

In a place like Hollywood, that makes him royalty. And so are the two actors who star in his latest spectacle. And befitting such a regal event, scene stealing is definitely the order of the day.

Keanu plays Kevin Lomax, a hot-shot-never-lost-a-case Florida defence attorney who is head-hunted by a prestigious New York law firm for their criminal division. Apparently with nothing to lose, Kevin and his beautiful wife Mary Ann (former model Theron from 2 Days in the Valley) are escorted to the Big Apple and wooed to join in on the litigation action.

A beautiful apartment, huge salary, VIP friends (Don King makes a cameo) are all part of the package. And so is Milton (Pacino), the enigmatic head partner of the law firm who takes Kevin under his conspicuous wing. It's not long before the Lomaxes are seduced by big city possibilities, and Kevin is defending a rich building magnate (Craig T. Nelson) charged with a heinous crime.

If you think this sounds like The Firm you may be right. But the latter half is way strange!

As Kevin becomes engulfed in his job Mary Ann starts losing her marbles. It seems the devil is at work, and Milton with his ability to speak every language, sweep any number of women off their feet (an indulgent blow job scene is a classic), and never need sleep is beginning to look more like Lucifer with every creepy frame.

Reportedly Devil's Advocate was meant to contain a great deal more special effects than what's ended up on screen. At times you do feel something's missing, but that only adds to the film's creepiness. It's reminiscent of Rosemary's Baby and The Shining which used delusion as the source of horror.

Admittedly the final product is nowhere near Polanski or Kubrick but at least Hackford doesn't mince emotions, going straight for the jugular. The sex scenes are raunchy, the performances full bore (Keanu in Speed form, Pacino in Scent of a Woman guise), the themes cathartic but fully explored. He has not compromised his vision, regardless of how implausible some of the plot turns may seem.

As Al's character says "This isn't a popularity contest." This is a Taylor Hackford movie! ---Dov Kornits

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link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=476&reviewer=14
originally posted: 09/13/98 00:22:38
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User Comments

7/20/08 Shaun Wallner Keanu Reeves play his part well! 5 stars
10/24/07 Ivana Mann Shame.Could have been good,but Keanu's presence ate through the cellulioid like PacMan. 2 stars
9/18/07 Jim Kicks ASS "..and when you're jumping from one foot to the next..." omg great scene! 5 stars
6/13/07 al smith not bad.connie nielson jesus what a body 3 stars
2/13/07 johnnyfog Keanu's southern accent and Pacinos' worst overacting ever 1 stars
1/22/07 Sepi53 thrilling 4 stars
9/24/06 R.W.Welch Entertaining update of the Faust legend with solid cast. 4 stars
6/27/06 Criddic2 Reeves surprisingly good, Pacino good fun, Theron rising star at the time; Enjoyable 4 stars
12/14/05 alvin I HAVNT SEEN THIS MOVIE (YET).... BUT I KNOW I'LL LOV IT BCOS AL'S IN THERE. GR8 ACTOR!!!!! 5 stars
8/31/05 ES Look its that blonde chick again, what the hell's her name? 1 stars
7/02/05 Indrid Cold Sure you can blast its metaphysics, but it's highly entertaining. 4 stars
5/28/05 Indrid Cold Sure it's stupid, but it's a highly entertaining, over the top good vs. evil drama. 4 stars
8/27/04 lucas worth a look! 4 stars
3/06/04 Jaco Visser A beautiful exponent of VANITY! Nicely done. 5 stars
1/25/04 may princess the movie was highly philosophical! 3 stars
1/22/04 < Interesting subject matter, but terminally weird. 3 stars
1/10/04 kaz love Al ,Keanu and Charlize in this!! 5 stars
9/11/03 Laurian Diaconescu Pure and simply ... 5 stars
8/19/03 Anastasia Beaverhausen Reeves is fine, the film deconstructs in last 20 minutes 4 stars
5/19/02 J. The five stars are ONLY for Pacino's performance.Keanu can't act his way out of a paper bag 5 stars
3/22/02 JesseL Good movie, nice action, Keanu makes it, nice scenery 4 stars
3/19/02 Natalie Stonecipher I'd rather wipe my butt with sandpaper than watch this crap again. 1 stars
1/24/02 Geo7654 This movie has it all. Extremely entertaining. A True sleeper 5 stars
10/29/01 Gary Exhausting and exaggerated. Hammy acting from Reeves & Pacino - Theron fares better. 2 stars
10/25/01 Henry Ginsberg they cant expect us to take this seriously 2 stars
10/10/01 jawsboy better acting from keanu. really cool movie 4 stars
9/09/01 Butterbean Surprisingly dull movie. Watch it for Keanu's fucked up southeren accent 3 stars
9/08/01 Reini Urban start of the Al Pacino's fall and Charlize Theron's rise. 2 stars
5/27/01 Maverick One of the best movies i've ever seen. Outstanding 5 stars
5/05/01 The Chosen One wow 5 stars
3/25/01 Monster W. Kung LOL! Keanu Reeves... this might well be the worst performance in any movie, ever! 2 stars
2/23/01 JS Excellent movie... gets creepier and creepier... fucked up is the phrase that comes to mind 5 stars
2/01/01 Egg36 Long, but enjoyable thriller. 4 stars
1/09/01 Keanuette Keanu Reeves make a good lawyer! A very dark and creepy film. It's good... 5 stars
11/11/00 Creeper Satan taking the name "John Milton" (author of Paradise Lost) is genius. 5 stars
4/09/00 the Grinch Keanu's miscast, and nobody in Florida sounds like that. Stupid linguists. Good flick, tho 4 stars
4/01/00 CHIMERE TISDALE THIS MOVIE WAS EXCELLENT, ALTHOUGH IT DOESN'T GET THE RECOGNITION THAT IT DESERVES! 5 stars
11/14/99 Ataraxia Even Keanu Reeves couldn't ruin this one. 5 stars
7/07/99 Ben Leostein Rating: **½ (out of ****) Category: "Above Average" 4 stars
7/03/99 hum keeps your attention ok but its not a good movie 3 stars
6/15/99 Dylan Wank. Also, the unfeasibly huge contrast between the acting skills of A and K is annoying. 1 stars
6/14/99 Lashan Lynn Piss off. This was a great movie! One of the best. That final monolouge, WOW! 5 stars
6/10/99 Homer J. Simpson one word AL PACINO AS THE DEVIL 5 stars
4/08/99 Dave I'd rather be in hell WITH the devil than watch this junk 1 stars
4/02/99 Joe Old Pacino couldn't even save this one 1 stars
3/05/99 ^Cesaro I'm not a big Keanu fan, but he was passable and Pacino just tore it up. Rock on! 5 stars
1/24/99 Hannah I'm not a Keanu-hater, but his performance ended this movie's chance at goodness. 2 stars
1/15/99 donkey_dew fucking horrible. bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad and sucks all the fucking way. 1 stars
1/15/99 DRMJSP One of the top 5 I have ever seen. Loved Pacino's "rant" at the end. 5 stars
1/11/99 I.P. Freeley Keanu kicked ass! 5 stars
11/12/98 Lord Of The Dunce A lot of people told me it sucked, but I really enjoyed it. Ending was sequel-bait. 5 stars
10/18/98 Sailor Moon Ate My Balls Wow, at least it's better than those Hellraiser movies, only more trippy and amusing to see 5 stars
10/13/98 philip al pacino rulz--i was scared 5 stars
9/17/98 cheryl_ann VERY trippy movie. it gave me badass chills the whole way through. 5 stars
9/04/98 Badass A scattershot movie. The ending is dumb and generic. 3 stars
9/03/98 Johny Deserves 4.5, I'll round down since the press and title ruined the surprize twist 4 stars
9/02/98 f*r*o*s*t*y Ahhhhh! Serious skullfuck. 5 stars
8/28/98 Chuck-D It was so freaking good. I mean, best keanu movie since Bill and ted's Excellent Adventure 5 stars
8/24/98 The Capital City Goofball Keanu didn't suck. 5 stars
8/23/98 Mister Whoopee This movie kicked ass. Charlize Theron is a stunner. She's worth admission. 4 stars
IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS FILM, RATE IT!
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USA
  17-Oct-1997 (R)

UK
  N/A

Australia
  01-Jan-1998 (R)



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