Review: Devil's Advocate, The (1997)
ChadPolenz
The Devil's Advocate
Chad'z rating: **1/2 (out of 4 = OK)
1997, R, 138 minutes [2 hours, 18 minutes]
[drama/thriller]
starring: Keanu Reeves (Kevin Lomax), Al Pacino (John Milton), Charlize Theron
(Mary Ann Lomax), Jeffrey Jones (Eddie Barzoon), written by Tony Gilroy,
Jonathon Lemkin, produced by Arnold and Anne Kopelson, Arnon Milchan, directed
by Taylor Hackford, based on the novel by Andrew Neiderman.
It's clear the premise to "The Devil's Advocate" is, "What if the devil came
to Earth in human form today?" That's certainly an original concept, and
surprisingly, this isn't any kind of disguised horror film. The problem is,
it's impossible to tell where the film intends to go with this concept until
the very end.
Keanu Reeves stars as Kevin Lomax, a defense attorney from Florida who doesn't
always enjoy defending the accused, but he's never lost a case and sees no
reason to quit. The opening scene involves the trial of a child molester which
seems realistic for the most part, although one can't help but notice the
Hollywood atmosphere to it all. Still, Lomax manages to get through the trial
by introducing new evidence and twisting facts. For some reason, it's hard to
dislike Reeves' character, especially considering how stiff he seems (playing
a lawyer doesn't help any).
Soon the movie progresses as Kevin and his wife Mary Ann (Theron) move to New
York City where Kevin has just been offered a job at the top law firm in the
country. He knows how to pick favorable juries, and he proves his mettle with
these big shots as soon as he arrives. Kevin is so good, John Milton (Pacino),
a senior partner of the firm, not only congratulates him but completely
befriends him. Pacino is excellent and especially charming here as this
confident, intelligent executive. Milton takes Kevin under his wing and for
the entire mid-section of the film, we get nothing but the atmosphere of the
rich, debutante lifestyle. Unfortunately, this is also the film's biggest
problem.
We already know Milton is actually Satan himself, but why is he here on Earth
and what does Kevin have to do with anything? The film barely provides us with
any clues to these questions. Some hints are slowly dropped, but they're done
so in generic horror manners. Instead of the characters' dialogue and actions
revealing their true identity, we get visions of demons that are more
startling than they are scary. Most of these incidents involve Mary Ann, and
of course she tries to explain what's going on and begs Kevin to leave, but
she also seems to be going insane. There's also an overall feeling of
surrealism and it's difficult to tell if things are real or hallucinations or
dreams. The screenplay's pacing does this in a Hitchcock-esque way, but it
doesn't play up its humanism as well as it should.
For much of the film I just wondered where everything was going. There is
essentially no plot at all, and although the storytelling is fine, there just
seems to be an emptiness to it all. The first half concentrates mostly on the
characters which makes for good drama, but the second half seems to turn on a
dime into melodrama. All Mary Ann does is cry and scream while all Milton does
is talk to Kevin in more rhetoric which doesn't seem to have any relevance.
The last act is not a resolution, but a culmination of the everything to come
before. The entire film exists for the ending, which is a cross between modern
mythology and classic philosophy. It's interesting to watch at the time, but
in retrospect, there still seems to be something missing. There's actually two
endings to the film - the first of is poetic, but the second I didn't think
was necessary (hint: it's reminiscent of "The Shining").
There's a lot of good stuff to "The Devil's Advocate," but the screenplay and
the individual events never seem to lead to anything or have a point. Its
originality is commendable, but this film could have been and should have been
much better than it is because it doesn't take enough advantage of its
thematic elements.
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