I decided to watch this film just before work. I started about an hour before work and completed the rest during my breaktime.
The Devil's advocate is a classic, released three years after I was born, in 1997. Like I said in my previous post, I find myself watching old films just because they're a little different from what we have and maybe catch up on what I missed. I know for sure I watched this as a preteen, even though I wonder why I was allowed to do so. I distinctly remember some older teens talk about the last scene years ago and remembered it when I watched it today.
image design by me
Back to the film. Many people on rotten tomatoes say this was one of Al Pacino's best performances and well, I'm pleased to say I agree.
The Devil's advocate also stars strong stars like the handsome Keanu Reeves, and Charlize Theron. What a beautiful movie era time to watch these actors.
This film is about Kev or Mr Lomaz(Keanu Reeves), a defense attorney who has never lost a case even while defending people that were clearly guilty. He just was a winner. Scarlet, who plays Mary Ann and his wife follows him from Florida to join a renown law firm owned by a man who goes by the name of John Milton. John Milton, played by Al Pacino is very charismatic, he knows languages and there is some mystery about him as he seems to never sleep and lives in this office space with no real personal items. He takes a huge interest in Kev and gives him perks other people in the firm have to work for years to get.
As I was watching, I slowly realized that I could find themes I recognized. Like when John Milton took him to the top of the building and showed him the breathtaking view and how Kev gasped when he looked down to see what great heights those were. It felt like when Satan went to tempt Jesus at the wilderness.
I noted some quotes I liked in this film. Like when John Milton answers 'Always' to Kev's questions ' Are we negotiating?'. In life, we always are negotiating and if we're not careful, we are with the devil sometimes. Another quote to remember was 'The worst vice is advice'. In the film though, his favorite sin to clutch on is vanity.
At first, I though Mary Ann was paranoid when she kept seeing these visions. I though she was hallucinating and being difficult when she kept complaining and saying she wanted to go home. I thought, well Kev did say before they moved into their new apartment(one of the perks) that they could return to Florida at any time, but she thought it would be crazy to throw that all away. I would have thought them crazy too, but you see John Milton isn't really just extraordinary for nothing and no, Mary Ann is not crazy. There really is more beneath that surface.
A little trivia; in one of the parties in this film, someone mentions that Donald Trump was supposed to be a guest at the party. That kind of jolted me and I was a bit confused until I remembered that Trump was not just the President the US got rid of but a powerful man still at the time this film was made.
The ending of this film made me say ' wait a minute' twice. It is one thing for a film to do that once, but to do it twice is perfection. It ends and then it doesn't and then it ends, but does it? This is the kind of film that leaves you scouring the internet to find answers to the common question of ' What does the ending of so and so film mean?'.
It's a 9/10 film for me. One point removed because I think the 1997 devil was not as tempting as I expected. I mean at a time, he promised Kev bliss at a snap as a motive for him to join him but hmm, I don't think he sold that well to me. Nevertheless, every other thing was interesting and it fit into the category of a thriller, so yes it had that exciting element and rewatchability value.
I'd like to know what you guys think/thought about it when you watched it.
Cheers!