THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE (1997) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1998 Ted Prigge
Director: Taylor Hackford Writers: Jonathan Lemkin and Tony Gilroy (based on the novel by Andrew Neiderman) Starring: Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron, Judith Ivey, Connie Nielsen, Jeffrey Jones, Craig T. Nelson, Tamara Tunie, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Debra Monk, Heather Matarazzo, Don King, Delroy Lindo
Taylor Hackford's "The Devil's Advocate" has a really cool, satirical gimmick in it: that lawyers are really working for the devil, like we all expected anyway. But the film itself is one of those which is full of flaws, and seems to be out to just exploit this idea in a cheap way. Watching it is very manipulative: the story seems to be going nowhere until a final scene sums it all up, and it all seems great. Normally, I'd try to be cynical and say this is what "brings it down, causing it to be less than what should be there," or something like that. But then again, I've been known to go against the norm.
"The Devil's Advocate" deals with a hot shot young lawyer, Kevin Lomax, who is straight out of a Grisham novel with the exception that he's played by Keanu Reeves (ha ha). After winning a ton of cases consecutively in the south (wait till you hear Keanu's in-n-out accent - you thought his french accent in "Dangerous Liasons" was bad), he's hired at the top law firm in the country, located in Manhattan. Despite the christian coalition rants from his Bible Belt mother (Judith Ivey), he and his wife, Mary Ann (Charlize Theron), move to Manhattan to a lush, spacey apartment.
Soon enough, he catches the attention of the firm's head, John Milton (ha ha), played by Al Pacino, who tempts him into becoming one of his top lawyers on the edge of the building's roof with a waterfall toppling over, and a gorgeous shot of the city, showing that he's going to take a fall if he sides with Milton. After awhile of workaholic-dom, the lonely Mary Ann becomes detached from him, and is soon seeing images of people as demons, driving her nuts. We begin to suspect that Milton is not really human...although we all know what he is from the previews.
The film, which is long and pretty plotless through most of it, wanders around for a lot of its running time, never seeming to go anywhere. But we the audience stay tuned because we know that the end will explain everything, and that all the big questions will be answered, like: why is Kevin drawn to the sexy lawyer Christabella (Connie Nielsen) so much that he imagines he's porking her while he porks his wife in real life? Or why is Mary Ann the only one being haunted? Why not Kevin? And, of course, why is Kevin being shown as a heartless man defending criminals when he obviously has a heart?
The ending, which consists of twist upon twist upon twist, is what makes everything worth it. Towards the end, Kevin and Milton have a giant confrontation in his office, which we've seen clips of on the commercials, which is explains everything and even contains several unexpected twists. This trend in movies, where the ending is the thing that makes everything worth it, has been going strong with the movie audiences since "The Usual Suspects" did it with style, and while this film doesn't do it as masterfully as that film did, it sure makes the long wait well worth it.
To fully understand "The Devil's Advocate," one needs to realize this is not art: it's a crowd pleaser. It's the kind of film that tempts you throughout it, with lots of cool individual scenes and great cinematic moments which seem disjointed from everything else until the grande finale blows you away, and leaves you giddy afterwards. I'd love to say that I'm one of those critics who can "see through the film and was the only one who booed afterwards for it being manipulative," but the film was able to snatch me up into it, and by the ending, with the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" playing over the end credits, I was leaving with a big fat smile on my face. The ending makes all the apparent flaws of this film seem like they were good.
Why did I enjoy this? Well, I think that it's a good film because of all these things, which would be called problems from another perspective. It's a film that saves everything for the ending, going out with a bang. Even the final twist at the end, which would seem really really cheap in another film, is backed up with a great sense of logic when you think about it. Is Kevin really this cold blooded lawyer, or is there an alternate influence in his life which makes him this way? The ending, which is kind of like the ending of Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ," made me moan at first, but then seemed worth it with the final frame.
But what really makes this a really great pleasure to see is the way it feels. Taylor Hackford (who also directed "An Officer and a Gentleman" and produced "When We Were Kings") has directed this film with a wild visual flair which makes everything seem amazing. I adored the production design, especially that of Milton's office which is one of the best sets of the year. I loved the "Koyaanisqatsi"-esque time elipses, with time seen blowing by in a matter of moments. And one of the final scenes, with lots of wild special effects, and even some rampant nudity of one special character (hee hee), is long but jaw-dropping.
Unfortunately, this film does have its share of problems. The direction and mood are all over the place, with scene tone ranging from overly-melodramatic to high camp. The film never decides whether it's a serious satire on lawyers or a black comedy. But once again, the finale choses what it is (and at least it goes out with style and a big laugh). While I said that the manipulation of the viewer can be viewed as a good thing, that doesn't mean it can't also be viewed as a negative point against the movie. Watching "The Devil's Advocate" is like reading a college freshman's term paper that stumbles around until the last paragraph where it makes its final point. While it's pleasing at the end, you can't help but feel like the first bit of it was a bit cheap.
However, the final feeling to the film manages to be satirical and entertaining, feeling cheap at first, then feeling great. The satirical gimmick is also pretty great: that lawyers are actually hounds of hell ready to take over the world from God (Milton points out that there are now more law students than lawyers - freaky deaky). The fact that it's able to hold this up throughout the film without it ever seeming cheap is something to be rewarded.
A big shock of the film is Keanu Reeves, who, if you know me at all, is one of the main actors who I make fun of a lot (I adore doing an impersonation of him in "Much Ado About Nothing"), but I will admit that he sometimes delivers a performance which is believable and passable. Here, he's at his best, which might not be very good, but is at least passing. I believed his performance, and after awhile, I forgot that it was Keanu Reeves, the ex-Ted of "Bill and." Yes, I was incredibly skeptical about it (when you hear Keanu Reeves is a "hot shot attorney," you just laugh) and was ready for some heavy duty ridicule, but after actually seeing it, I actually...liked him in it. Yikes indeed.
Charlize Theron, who came out of nowhere last year to give great supporting work in "That Thing You Do!" and "2 Days in the Valley," is once again great in a role which is suprisingly deft. Mary Ann's character is never clearly defined in the film, but she fills in the gaps, creating a gradual descent into madness which actually seems realistic enough to be taken seriously. In the beginning, she's bright, sunny, and lovable; later on, she's clearly gone off the deep end, needing the support of her ever distancing husband. Her acting in this film is great.
And then there's the man...Al Pacino, who beat out Jon Voigt for best overacting of the year (he hammed it up big time in "Anaconda"). Every scene Al's in, he shows his talent for being larger than life, saying each of his lines with unbridled enthusiasm, and creating a character who's lovable and seductive, even if he IS the devil. I wanted to applaud after every line he uttered, and every time he smiled and did his great laugh (a la "Scent of a Woman"), I just giggled like a school girl (hee hee). Watching Al Pacino on screen in this film, playing a role he would hopefully kill for, is one of the few total pleasures of this year movie-wise.
Watching "The Devil's Advocate" forces the viewer to forget about plot or ongoing themes, and just remember everything for the big twist at the end, where everything finally makes some bit of sense. And what an ending it is. Sure, it's a scene between Pacino and Reeves, and that would already sound kinda iffy, but it makes everything suddenly feel like it was worth it, and leaves you with a satisfying taste in your mouth. Sure, everything up that point is pretty cool, albeit a tad mediocre at some points, but this film is further proof that sometimes, it's all about the ending. And that devilish grin by Pacino...
MY RATING (out of 4): ***
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