L'avvocato del diavolo

Stylish, sexy, suspenseful thriller stars Reeves as an accomplished southern lawyer who's never been beaten; he travels to New York City to take a job with powerful legal mogul Pacino, but his once ideal life is soon turned upside down as he's plunged into a surreal, demonic world of lust, temptation, and vanity. Slick writing, direction, and an array of startling scenes, breathtaking effects, and dazzling performances make this an imaginative thriller quite unlike any other. Reeves gives one of his finest performances to date, aided immeasurably by a wild, wickedly over-the-top performance from Pacino and a first-rate supporting cast. Not for all tastes, but highly watchable indeed. ***½

Of course I have seen the 1997 movie "The Devil's Advocate" before. But truth be told, I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch the movie again here in 2024, as I had the opportunity to do so.

Writers Andrew Neiderman, Jonathan Lemkin and Tony Gilroy put together quite an enjoyable and entertaining script and storyline. It is a narrative that is parts drama, thriller and mystery, which actually played out quite nicely. And there is something unique about the storyline which makes the movie watchable again and again.

The movie has a very impressive cast ensemble, with some pretty good talents. You know what you are getting into when you have the likes of Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino in the leading roles, and they do deliver here; especially Al Pacino, he was phenomenal in the role of John Milton. The movie also have the likes of Charlize Theron, Jeffrey Jones, Judith Ivey, Connie Nielsen and Craig T. Nelson on the cast list, among many other great talents.

"The Devil's Advocate" has a few special effects throughout the 144 minutes that it runs for, which helps promote the narrative quite nicely. It is not a movie that relies heavily on special effects to tell its tale, nor does it rely on special effects to be an effective movie. Instead, director Taylor Hackford makes usage of carnal situations to cement the elements of pleasure and lust that drives John Milton and his surroundings.

I will say that "The Devil's Advocate" is the type of movie that you just have to watch, because it definitely was one of the more memorable and defining movies of the late 1990s. And it is quite an entertaining storyline in the movie.

My rating of "The Devil's Advocate" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

This is one of the most intensely dark and beguiling movies I have seen. The purpose behind it is to create a moral drama about the fight between good and evil in a man, or the devil's everlasting quest to conquer man's soul. In retrospective, there are few movies I've seen that bring out such strong feelings in me. Specially the first hour. We follow a young couple, played by Reeves and Theron in her first big picture, who move to New York from the south when he is given a job as attorney in one of the biggest firms in the country. We see the change come in Kevin as he is introduced to a world of luxury and pleasure by his boss, THE DEVIL, played by old master Al Pacino.

The ending brings a new, unpredictable and great twist to the story. I will not give it away. The supporting cast is pretty strong, specially Jeffrey Jones who plays a senior partner in Lucifer Pacino's firm and who first arises the suspicion in Kevin/Keanu with his mysterious behaviour, and Connie Nielsen as Cristabella, an extremely hot Italian colleague who is the very symbol of temptation. Nielsen looked even better here than in "Gladiator" and her performance is also more interesting. Charlize Theron displayed her range here for the first time, showing she had a great potential to become a star with her mix of ethereal beauty and acting talent. Reeves was also very good as the hotshot attorney and his looks elevated his macho hero potential. Al Pacino didn't disappoint, but his performance here counts as one of his least spectacular.

This is a dark movie with elements of horror and some gore and sex thrown in for good measure. I think Taylor Hackford never did it better. He gave us something to ponder on while entertaining and scaring us at the same time. It is a film one can't forget.9/10

Evil promises everything but gives away nothing. This quote, which I like very much, sums up the point of The Devil's Advocate.

In this movie skillful lawyer goes to New York to pursue career of his dreams. He makes many compromises with his conscience on the way and even starts to neglect his romantic relationship.

It's really unbelievable that this movie isn't more popular than it is. It's got all the elements of a serious, adult thriller. It is true, however, that this is a very disturbing portrayal of someones life going down the spiral. What makes this movie great, makes this movie disturbing and vice versa.

We've all seen many movies devoting to much time to unnecessary violence only to disturb you, not to utilize it so that story line actually benefits from it.

However, all the violence, nudity and disturbing material in The Devil's Advocate fit nicely with the plot. I don't remember anything disturbing not being in concordance with moral of the story - that is to point out to viewer how the Evil actually operates.

Now recall the book of Genesis chapter 3, verse 1: "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made."

Many movies have portrayed Satan as an ugly, violent monster often not intelligent enough. This movie portrays the Evil one as it actually is: intelligent, subtil, patient, taunting, masquerading as the angel of light. And one more thing: He hates God. His true call is to convince people loving God does not exist.

If you're looking for a movie which provocatively raises philosophical and theological questions in a way a book never could, look no further.

I watched this movie on DVD. It will be enough for me to mention that there had been no other movie where I'd had to pause the play in mere awe at the magnificence of the storyline! At a point, It was as if I could see my jaw on the floor praising in thorough amusement the brilliance, relevance-to-our-daily-lives, deepness of message, sophistication, great portrayal, top-of-the-class creativity, marvelous acting/directing/screen writing all having come together in a movie, which called for a rating of 9 out of 10 and no less, certainly, undoubtedly.

Al-Pacino's acting is to no surprise as brilliant as ever, exuding confidence, proficiency and clarity as always. Keanu Reaves leaves a great master-play in his work, meeting up to the acting skills required in displaying a character of wisdom, success, love and perhaps, of vanity. Charize Theron too puts up a play of passion in its right.

But what amused me more than all were the great and fantastic script-lines thrown around. All very meaningful and interesting indeed. The whole movie got me stunned and fixed at the edge of my desk seat, but the favorite part for me has to come at the end, where the theme of the movie comes to words and finds a chance as of clarifying itself in one the most brilliant ways I as one have ever seen possible! Recommended for everybody willing to enjoin on a meaningful story and a blend of excellent plays... surely a 9/10.