Review of The Devil's Advocate (1997) by Steve W — 15 Jan 2011

In the modern world full of success driven, greedy people, who is watching us? God? The Devil? Al Pacino? And an even greater question is, do we have a choice? Well, you have the choice to see this movie and I highly suggest it.

When a hot-shot lawyer in a small town is hired by a wealthy business man and moves to New York, things are looking up for him and his wife on an unbelievable scale. A big apartment, big salary, and meeting all the right people. But there's something suspicious about his employer. His knowledge, his charm, and the amound of hell and Satan puns while he's around. This is a very interesting story about morality in the lawyer business and the Court itself, which is taken to the extreme when the damnation theme is mixed into the story. But it sure makes for a great star-studded blockbuster with Keanu Reeves in one of his better acted roles, Charlize Theron doing an incredable job, and the charming devil Al Pacino doing what he does best.

This movie is done very flashy and expressive with plenty of moving cameras and crane shots, showing the overwhelming big city as a place where one can easily get lost in. The lighting is fairly impressive in a lot of scenes, especially as the drama and thrills begin to rise. But what was really enjoyable was the ideas behind a lot of the animation, how people's faces seem to morph into demon faces, and the moving wall. (you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it). The movie gets the best moments of courtroom/crime drama and supernatural, horrific phenomena. This is a crime drama with a demonic, slightly comedic twist.

The Devil's Advocate is a genre bender. It's a courtroom drama, moral drama, crime flick and a supernatural thriller. All these things combine to create a unique and very enjoyable movie. And with a great doing some of their best preformances to boot, this movie becomes one that you'll love to catch on tv plenty of times.