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Source:
rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
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Heard any good lawyer jokes lately? Taylor Hackford's fantasy/morality tale The Devil's Advocate starts out as a decent one but soon falls prey to Hollywood excess and gimmickry. Keanu Reeves plays Kevin Lomax, a hotshot Florida attorney who is not above anything to win a case, even (gasp) coming up with convincing defenses for clients he knows are guilty. This, of course, means he his headed for the big-time, and the golden opportunity comes when he is invited to join a lofty New York firm headed by the brash John Milton (Al Pacino). As the poster's tagline goes, "The newest attorney at the world's most powerful law firm has never lost a case. But he's about to lose his soul." Known to every moviegoer going in, Milton is not only a bad guy, he is _the_ bad guy--the Devil himself. But it takes a while for Kevin to realize this--and for director Hackford to explicitly suggest that he is. As such, The Devil's Advocate comes in at a bloated two-hour, twenty-plus-minute running time. However, the film's setup is much more interesting than the overblown payoff offered by Hackford and screenwriters Jonathan Lemkin and Tony Gilroy. Up until the climax, the obligatory visual effects are fairly subtle, convincingly conveying the story's fanciful elements while not undercutting its anchor in reality. But the Hollywood mentality of "more _is_ more" takes hold in the final reel, and Hackford employs an extravagant and extremely extraneous array of effects for the final showdown. Similarly Hollywood are a couple of contrivances that cap the picture. The Devil's Advocate takes a pair of wild twists in its conclusion, the last of which is a definite crowd-pleaser, but it also makes no logical sense. I will not give it away, but it reeks of blatant audience pandering (and, perhaps, test screening tinkering), offering a quick fix of enjoyment while simultaneously going against just about everything that immediately preceded it. Reeves-bashing has become so commonplace that it can be seen as a critic's easy way out, but, forgive me, I cannot resist here. One of Reeves's worst characteristics is his flat voice, and while punching it up with an accent would seem like a harmless way of giving it a jolt, for Reeves it is ruinous. His Southern drawl is horrendous, not to mention inconsistent, yet mercifully so--he is much easier to take when it disappears. Another common problem with Reeves is his inexpressiveness, which was perfect for the action hero in the original Speed but is a huge hindrance in something halfway-dramatic as this. When some sign of emotion is called for, his face appears to be under great strain, painfully contorting to shape an expression of some affect. Most of all, however, his natural blankness makes Kevin's spiritual change from mostly good to bad barely noticeable; the only difference I could make out between the "before" Kevin and the "after" Kevin is that the "after" Kevin smokes. It comes as no shock, of course, that the lightweight Reeves can barely hold his own with Pacino, who deserves billing over Reeves for the sheer entertainment value of his performance if not his more illustrious career and box office track record. At first it is slightly disappointing to see Pacino retreat to the broad theatrics of most of his recent work after the beautiful subtleties of Donnie Brasco, but his shameless showboating is not only called for here (after all, the Devil cannot exactly be restrained), but a lot of fun. The sole pleasure of the overdone climax is the sight of Pacino throwing all caution to the wind and cutting completely loose: he not only gets to act angry, sad, happy, and all points in between, he also gets to do a song and dance. Pacino has a blast, and it is hard for you not to, either. His sparkling presence really holds the picture together. More surprising, though, is Reeves's poor showing against up-and-comer Charlize Theron, who plays Kevin's wife Mary Ann. Theron has the largest dramatic burden to bear--throughout the course of the picture, she has to change from a naive, bleached-blond-and-permed bumpkin to a dark-haired, severely distressed woman driven to the brink of insanity--and she carries it with very little, if any, trouble. She has a critical emotional gravity that Reeves lacks during their more serious scenes, which belies her fairly limited experience in film (and acting, for that matter). It is amazing that over the course of only four films in the past two years--2 days in the Valley, That Thing You Do!, Trial and Error, and this--Theron has displayed a greater depth and range than vet Reeves has in his entire career. Theron is great, Pacino is, too, and the film has a delicious, if improbable, hook, but in the end The Devil's Advocate is a fable with a fairly simpleminded moral--do the right, honorable thing. It is a lesson we have all been told before one way or another, and in a number of more satisfying cinematic ways.
By : Michael Dequina
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Source:
rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
Rating:
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Of all the notable actors who have portrayed Satan in the last decade or so, among them Jack Nicholson in 'The Witches of Eastwick' (1987) and Robert DeNiro in 'Angel Heart' (1987), none have captured the charismatic style quite like Al Pacino has in 'The Devil's Advocate'. The latest film from director Taylor Hackford ('Dolores Claiborne', 'An Officer and a Gentleman', 'Against All Odds') uses conscience as a metaphor to tell an old fashioned morality tale that avoids using cliches to transmit its dreamy message of morality. It uses each scene as a carefully thought out stepping stone to reveal its real intentions late in its running time of 141 minutes. Not always on target but never boring, the audience is given clues to the film's resolution in leading up to its chilling climax enhanced with some of the most mind twisting visuals seen on film this year.
Keanu Reeves is a young, ambitious and talented defense attorney in Florida who has never lost in over 60 cases he's been associated with and upon representing one client whom everyone believes will be convicted, Reeves gets him off and meets a representative from a New York City law firm who has been scouting his talents and persuades him to travel to Manhattan with all expenses paid to meet the firm's mentor (Pacino) in an attempt to obtain his services. Reeves agrees and along with his wife (Charlize Theron), they are introduced to a world which seems alien to them but the goodies seem to attractive to resist. As the film progresses there is a feeling that something is not quite right in their lives and the wife wants to leave. Reeves tells her that his career is going well and that leaving is out of the question.
The first thing that should be said about this film is noting the progression of Keanu Reeves as an actor of some merit. Although his southern accent is sometimes used inconsistantly in the movie, he holds his own for the most part with any other actor in the picture and is totally convincing as a fiery lawyer. He is the reason the courtroom sequences in the film are so pleasantly executed and director Taylor Hackford has extracted a complex and multi dimensional performance from Reeves. As for Pacino, what can you say about an actor who has triumphed at every role he's ever played. Even in his films that have bombed in both a critical and financial manner, Pacino always burns up the screen with his authoritative manner and disciplined command of character. Portraying Satan is another triumph for Pacino who delivers a sly and slightly over the top performance.
If you are turned off by movies which deal heavily in explicit and supernatural gore and violence and are offended by openly sexual scenes and nudity then 'The Devil's Advocate' should be avoided because the film is shockingly explicit on all of these counts but for others it will scorch your senses with an original twist but it has an ending which may leave you cold and unconvinced but it's still a good ride most of the way.
By : Walter Frith
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