F-0239

Title:

The Devil's Advocate

Category:

S

Produced:

1997

Country:

USA / Germany

Released:

Film: Oct 1997 (USA)
DVD: Nov 1998; Dec 1998; Sep 2000 (3-DVD)
VHS: Aug 1998; Sep 1999 (3-VHS); Apr 2001
Soundtrack: Oct 1997 (CD)

Director:

Taylor Hackford

Writer:

Andrew Neiderman (novel); Jonathan Lemkin (screenplay); Tony Gilroy (screenplay)

Actors:

Keanu Reeves (Kevin Lomax); Al Pacino (John Milton); Charlize Theron (Mary Ann Lomax); Jeffrey Jones (Eddie Barzoon); Judith Ivey (Mrs. Alice Lomax); Connie Nielsen (Christabella Andreoli); Craig T. Nelson (Alexander Cullen); Tamara Tunie (Mrs. Jackie Heath); Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Leamon Heath); Debra Monk (Pam Garrety); Vyto Ruginis (Mitch Weaver - Justice Department); Laura Harrington (Mrs. Melissa Black); Pamela Gray (Mrs. Diana Barzoon); George Wyner (Meisel); Chris Bauer (Lloyd Gettys - as Christopher Bauer)

Description:

Based on a book by Andrew Neiderman, the film centers on a young lawyer who joins a New York firm only to discover that his boss has an increasingly bizarre personality. (Erik Schuit)

Devil's Advocate thematically raises the preposition that 'is winning everything' in the legal profession.Does a lawyer commits the basic sin of Vanity if he believes his job is to win, as Kevin does. Further the movie in John Milton's trenchant speech questions the very notion of righteousness in the post-modern world. Milton's speech rips apart the whole discourse of religion when he presents the inherent contradiction of it. Kevin's dilemma reflects the modern man who accuses the circumstances for being what he is,the culture dominated by making money 'which build egos of the size of cathedral', the question is can one really call what one does 'freely-willed'?. The movie deals with these 'Hamltian questions' in a lawyer's mind. (amitbindal1)

Kevin Lomax, a ruthless young Florida attorney that never lost a case, is recruited by the most powerful law firm in the world. In spite of his mother's disagreement, which compares New York City to Babylon, he accepts the offer and the money that comes along. But soon, his wife starts feeling homesick as she witnesses devilish apparitions. However, Kevin is sinking in his new cases and pays less and less attention to his wife. His boss and mentor, John Milton, seems to always know how to overcome every problem and that just freaks Kevin right off. (Steve Richer)

This is a movie about a young, seemingly unbeatable lawyer from a small town in Florida. When he gets an offer to go to New York and work for a large firm, him and his wife Mary Anne jump at the opportunity. Soon, Mary Anne begins to dislike the city and Kevin's job. She urges him to quit and go back to Florida but he sees her as insane. The longer he works however, the more his wife makes sense, but is it too late? (Alyson)

Defence attorney Kevin Lomax has never lost one single case. He is invited to New York to work for a big law firm ruled by senior board member John Milton, who showers him with wealth and feeds his vanity. Kevin's wife just wants to have a baby and is distressed by Kevin always being on a case and never at home. She starts to lose her grip on reality - or so it seems. Kevin Lomax is about to find out about his true heritage and the grand scheme John Milton is running from his penthouse apartment. (Gustaf Molin)

Kevin Lomax is a hotshot southern lawyer who knows how to play the game. He gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he is offered a job with a law firm that promises many opportunities. He takes his wife to the Big Apple in hopes of a better life and a good job. He only finds himself on the receiving end of trouble when his boss is the Devil himself and has some treacherous plans up his sleeve for Kevin. (Mystic80)

Too old for Hamlet and too young for Lear--what's an ambitious actor to do? Play the Devil, of course. Jack Nicholson did it in The Witches of Eastwick; Robert De Niro did it in Angel Heart (as Louis Cyphre--get it?). In The Devil's Advocate Al Pacino takes his turn as the great Satan, and clearly relishes his chance to raise hell. He's a New York lawyer, of course, by the name of John Milton, who recruits a hotshot young Florida attorney (Keanu Reeves) to his firm and seduces him with tempting offers of power, sex, and money. Think of the story as a twist on John Grisham's The Firm, with the corporate evil made even more explicit. Reeves is wooden, and therefore doesn't seem to have much of a soul to lose, but he's really just our excuse to meet the devil. Pacino's the main attraction, gleefully showing off his--and the Antichrist's--chops at perpetrating menace and mayhem. The film was directed by Taylor Hackford (Against All Odds, Dolores Claiborne), who provides alternate-track commentary for the movie itself, plus a dozen deleted scenes. Also note: due to a settlement with artist Frederick Hart over the movie's use of a sculpture resembling his Ex Nihilo in Washington's National Cathedral, future releases of the film will be altered. (Jim Emerson, Amazon.com)

Language:

English, German, Italian, Mandarin

TT:

144 min / 440 min (3-DVD)

J.S. Bach's Music:

Air (Mvt. 2) from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068
Virgil Fox (Organ)
Courtesy of BMG Classics / RCA Victor

Format:

Film: Color (Technicolor), DTS / Dolby Digital / SDDS
DVD: (NTSC) | (AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Widescreen, NTSC, Region 1) | (PAL, Region 2) | (NTSC, Region 2] | (Anamorphic, Full Screen, NTSC, Region 2, Italian)
3-DVD: (Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC)
VHS: (Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Original recording reissued, NTSC) | (Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC) | (Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Original recording reissued, Subtitled, NTSC, Spanish) | (PAL) | (PAL, German, Italian)
3-VHS: (Box set, Color, NTSC)
Soundtrack: CD

Company:

Film: Warner Bros. Pictures (presents); New Regency Pictures (in association with); Kopelson Entertainment; Taurus Film (in association with)
DVD: Warner Home Video
VHS: Warner Home Video
Soundtrack: TVT (CD)

Comments:

3-DVD Set includes: Al Pacino Collection (The Devil's Advocate/Dog Day Afternoon/Heat)

Watch selections:

Buy movie at:

DVD: Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com [Region 2] | Amazon.com [Region 2] | Amazon.com [Region 2, Italian]
3-DVD: Amazon.com
VHS: Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com [Spanish] | Amazon.com [PAL] | Amazon.com [PAL] | Amazon.com [PAL, German, Italian]
3-VHS: Amazon.com
Soundtrack: Amazon.com [CD]

Source/Links: IMDB
Contributor: Aryeh Oron (November 2007)