THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE (1997)
2.5/5 stars
Review by John Ulmer
"The Devil's Advocate" works as neither a supernatural thriller nor a
courtroom drama – instead it relies heavily upon excessive content and
performances, silly over-the-top concepts and a genuinely unpleasing
conclusion, all of which stain an otherwise fairy enjoyable modern-day
parable.
The movie rambles on far too long about nothing in particular, always
thinking it's much cleverer than it actually is. For example, the
identity of a mysterious tycoon in New York City, named John Milton
(hint-hint), isn't revealed until about 2/3 of the way through the
film – despite the fact that the title of the movie, and all the
events therein leading up to this "revelation," basically give away
the "secret" from the start. So why in the world didn't anyone realize
this during production? Did anyone stop and say, "I wonder if people
will be smart enough to guess who he really is before we expect them
to…?"
If you don't want to know who Milton is, don't read any further.
However, if you have an IQ past that of the guy from Sling Blade,
you'll probably already realize that John Milton (played by Al Pacino)
is the Devil. Lucifer. Satan. "I have so many names," he says to
hotshot lawyer Keanu Reeves.
The story is routine at best – Milton hires the Aspiring Young Lawyer
from Hicksville, U.S.A. to travel to the Big Apple and take on
Important Cases. Soon the Lawyer's Wife (Charlize Theron) turns into
the Crazy Character That No One Believes, because she thinks Milton is
the devil, and they all laugh at her, and her husband laughs at her.
Hmm…maybe everyone on set was consuming laughing gas – this would
explain why the film rarely makes sense and Theron turns in the best
performance in a film starring…Al Pacino? It's almost sad to see him
resorting to more yelling and screaming and over-the-top ranting –
Pacino's big speech about God has potential, but he says it all so
annoyingly that it begins to grate on the nerves. I don't expect
Pacino to play Satan as a calm everyman, but at least he could try and
make a consistent character out of the role – instead of showing up on
set, consuming laughing gas and acting like an idiot. (Forgive me,
because I actually am an enormous fan of Pacino's work – but he simply
stinks here, and there's no excuse for his poor performance.)
"The Devil's Advocate" bears most relation to the supernatural
film-noir hybrid, "Angel Heart," released a decade prior. That film
co-starred Robert De Niro, who handled the role of Satan much better
than Pacino – mainly because although they both acted rather
flamboyantly, De Niro had better control. Ever since "Scent of a
Woman" in 1992, Pacino's over-acting has increased to a point of
near-nausea – is this the same guy who so expertly played Michael
Corleone and Tony Montana?
If you can put up with a movie that is over-the-top and excessive and
puts the work of Brian DePalma to shame, then maybe you'll be able to
stand"The Devil's Advocate." If you can put up with a movie that
wastes the talents of its main performers and leads nowhere but into
an unsatisfying apocalyptic massacre of an ending, you might even
enjoy this.
But if you can put up with a movie that proposes Keanu Reeves is a
genius lawyer who's "never lost a single case," you deserve to die a
very painful death. Please go far away and never return.
Just kidding. But seriously – Keanu Reeves? Tom Green has a better
chance…
========== X-RAMR-ID: 38616 X-RT-ReviewID: 1319357 X-RT-TitleID: 1079441 X-RT-SourceID: 1382 X-RT-AuthorID: 6769 X-RT-RatingText: 2.5/5
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