Devilās Advocate
It can be fairly easy to wonder at times if the super upper class (aka the ā1%ā) of the rich and powerful did so through the most insidious means, possibly selling their soul (maybe many times over) to achieve the wealth and privilege that it seems is off limits to most of us.Ā Factor that in with the ever growing influence of lawyers with their fingers in everything, and it would seem that perhaps True Evil is indeed alive and well in this world.Ā Thatās the premise at the heart of Taylor Hackfordās 1997 piece, a truly frightening yet fascinating horror film that deftly combines elements of both Wall Street and Angel Heart.Ā Keanu Reeves (by his standards, giving the performance of his life here, still never topped) plays Kevin Lomax, a hotshot young lawyer whose calling card is that heās never lost a case while seemingly floundering in the small pond of Gainesville, Florida (his most recent triumph was defending a child molester whom he catches masturbating in the middle of the trial(!) during a young girlās testimony).Ā One day he receives a stunning offer: Come to New York to work at the most powerful law firm in the city, thus attaining elite status by default and having more money than he ever dreamed along with the most luxurious apartment imaginable.Ā He accepts, but after he starts kicking ass in the big city courtrooms for a while, realizes the actual price that heās paying for such success, in the sinister form of Al Pacino as John Milton, head of the law firm and a definite Master Of The Universe in every conceivable form.Ā Now those who have at least seen the trailer already know that Pacino is in fact The Devil, Satan, Mephistopheles himself, having built the law firm into such a worldwide corporate power that essentially he indirectly runs the entire planet, which causes major issues for Reeves and his soul.Ā As said, this is no doubt Reevesā greatest performance, as his much criticized wooden acting style is finally given a recognizable human face that any viewer (especially those who push themselves to be the best at what they do) can emphasize with, and Pacino, who was already well into his post-Scent Of A Woman career stage, brings his charisma along with heavy doses of his trademark scenery chewing skills to the forefront, capping off the performance with his now legendary anti-God rant that ironically comes across as the rationale for every atheistās choice of non-faith (and ironically, may have even inspired those who AGREE with his words to adapt themselves accordingly). Ā But the heart and soul of the movie would have to belong to Charlize Theron as Reevesā ill-fated wife: So beautiful, happy, and vibrant in the early parts of the film, her descent into madness when she realizes the true nature of her husbandās associates (and their wives) forces the audience to lay their sympathies directly with her, even as her husband gets caught up in a front page murder trial involving a particularly sleazy industrialist (Craig T. Nelson), whom it is implied brutally murdered his wife and stepson so that he could get his paws on his gorgeous stepdaughter without any interference.Ā In essence, Theron carries the film and the viewerās emotions, which fast tracked her straight to the A-List and Oscar glory, all the way up to her heartwrenching final scene.Ā In other roles, we get Jeffrey Jones blubbering along as the managing director of the firm; Judith Ivey doing fine work as Reevesā Christian mother who agonizes as her only son turns ever more to the dark side; Tamara Tunie as the reptilian fellow wife who tries to turn Charlize on to the shallow life; an unbilled Delroy Lindo as a creepy voodoo practitioner who goes up on a health code violation; and Connie Nielsen as the mesmerizingly evil redhead who works at the firm as well as on Reevesā conscience (both her and Theron also do extensive nudity).Ā The pacing moves along fluidly for a near two and a half hour film, and the James Newton Howard score is as haunting as it is appropriate.Ā Perhaps the best thing about the script along with many of the performances is the fact that what has become commonplace in the business world as āprofessionalā and ādetachedā is here associated with lack of warmth, empathy, and soul, a perfect metaphor for the narcissistic qualities shared by so many of the rich and famous in todayās age, thus making it a film that works brilliantly on so many levels, as biting satire, as pulse-pounding horror, as a display of courtroom theatrics, and most of all, as a showcase of great acting led by one of the greatest of all time doing it like only he canā¦
10/10