If Satan were to spend his time on earth, he would spend it among those who help let evil walk freely, who put their conscience aside and do whatever it takes to win. He would become a lawyer.
That is the interesting concept of "The Devil's Advocate," a film which does literally what our culture has been doing figuratively for years, demonizes lawyers.
Al Pacino plays John Milton, the head of one of the largest law firms in the world, who also happens to be Satan. Who could ask for a better part for Pacino, who has in recent years, with the exception of his work in "Donnie Brasco," become the new king of over-acting. He glares his teeth in hugely evil smiles. He seduces women with a throaty laugh and a seductive dance. And he delivers every speech as if flames are shooting up behind him, and sometimes they are.
If not a subtle performance, it certainly is a fun one. The film, however, is not on the same page as Pacino. It cannot decide if it is a social satire, a morality play or a generic horror movie. In trying to be all three, it fails at being any one of them.
Keanu Reeves plays Kevin Lomax, a young, idealistic southern lawyer who has yet to lose a case. The film opens with him in court on the losing side of a sure-win case. The child molester he is defending has just revealed to him that he really is guilty, so Kevin must either defend him by destroying his pre-teen accuser on the stand or take his first loss. Brushing morals aside, Kevin wins the case.
Following his victory he receives an invitation from Milton, Chadwick, Waters, a very successful New York City law firm which wants his services. Against the wishes of his Bible-quoting mother, who believes New York to be a breeding ground for sin, Kevin and his pretty wife Mary Ann (Charlize Theron) head for the big city.
The job is everything he and his wife had dreamed of. He is given a beautiful apartment, the other lawyers welcome him with open arms and he still cannot lose a case. His wife is first thrilled with the change of scenery but soon finds, like all the other firm wives, that she is losing her husband to his job and finds herself very much alone.
If this sounds an awful lot like "The Firm," it should. "The Devil's Advocate" borrows heavily from John Grisham. Kevin is the typical Grisham hero -- young, southern and ready to face down the establishment. But instead of the FBI or tobacco corporations, Kevin has to take on the Devil himself.
With each passing day, Kevin loses more of his soul to the firm. He is slowly falling for an office seductress, whose image he cannot get out of his mind. And the triple murder case he takes constantly pushes his moral limits farther and farther away.
Reeves performance as Kevin is typical Reeves. There is not much he can do with his non-existent facial expressions and monotone voice, but at least his complexion changes-- we can tell he is mad when his face turns red. He does, however, convince us that he is a driven lawyer who will do anything to win, which is all that the part really calls for.
It is entertaining to watch Pacino go over-the-top and Reeves get sucked in. Milton is pure id, a man driven by sex and greed who is not ashamed to admit it. Kevin is an uptight good ol' boy from the south, but he cannot resist the allure of the big city and all its sins. But the film wants to be so much more than a battle between the two.
For most of the last hour, the film turns into another "Exorcist" sequel. Blood flows, flames fly up and computer images begin to take over.
But if that is not enough, the film layers on elements of a preachy morality tale. The final ending, it feels like there are more then one, is too trite and too uplifting to be justified by the previous two hours. It is not enough for the film to be breezy entertainment.
When Pacino's Devil is allowed to rant about the dawning of the apocalypse and the many flaws of God, we get caught up in the film's glossy silliness, and it becomes quite entertaining. If only the filmmakers had not been so pretentious and allowed themselves to get caught up in it as well.
