The Devil's Advocate (1997)

Al Pacino as the Devil? Yes Please! In a role that allows him to be deadly serious and yet cheesy as Hell (pardon the pun) at parts, “The Devil’s Advocate” is the perfect film for him and the amazing cast that includes Charlize Theron, Craig T. Nelson, Jeffrey Jones, Delroy Lindo, and Keanu Reeves. I consider this film a guilty pleasure because it does have an uneven Keanu Reeves performance as the main character but I’m able to overlook this because Pacino and Theron are so freaking amazing. I really enjoy the story, the special effects, and the quick flow of the final act. And for once the results of the final confrontation with the Devil are not an all or nothing/the end of the world as we know it type of situation.

Kevin Lomax is a defense attorney in Gainesville, Florida who has never lost a case. At times his clients include people who have done some very bad, very despicable acts that he knows that they are guilty of, but his job is to prove that they are innocent and he refuses to lose. His stunning record attracts the attention of a New York City law firm who ultimately hires and relocates him and his wife Mary Ann. Kevin’s abilities are tested with various tasks including picking a jury and defending a voodoo priest before he is given a high profile case defending a billionaire who is accused of murdering his wife, one of his children, and a maid. As Kevin spends more time with the firm’s lead partner, John Milton, and working on the murder case, Mary Ann begins a horrifying descent into madness, seeing visions of demons and a baby holding her bloody uterus. Kevin only begins to realize that something strange is going on when the office manager, Eddie Barzoon, is murdered by two homeless men/demons while running through Central Park and the sudden death of a U.S Attorney asking about John Milton. When Kevin finds Mary Ann covered in deep cuts and naked in a church and then learns that Milton is responsible, Kevin confronts his boss and learns exactly what he has gotten himself and his loved ones involved with.

Favorite moment – “favorite” is not the correct word to use here, but the most intense scene in the movie is when Mary Ann kills herself in the mental ward, unable to deal or live with what has happened to her.