if there is one thing that bothers me about hollywood films it’s their predictable endings .
the devil’s advocate has the atypical hollywood ending , when everything that should happen does .
unfortunately for the devil’s advocate , this ending nearly collapses in on itself , and ruins the entire film .
nevertheless , the film does provide two and a half hours of pure entertainment ( note to self : kill whomever was in charge of the previews for this film ) .
i don’t think i was quite prepared for this movie because the trailers made it appear to be some supernatural horror film about satan .
well , it does contain this element , but what is not mentioned in the ads is the other plot elements ( and seemingly more interesting ones at that ) .
the devil’s advocate begins in florida with an ongoing trial in session .
kevin lomax ( keanu reeves ) is the defense attorney , working for a client whom has been accused of raping a young girl .
he ends up with a not-guilty verdict , despite an emotional testimony from the victim ( heather matarazzo ) .
he leaves the courthouse with his lovely wife mary ann ( charlize theron ) where he is approached with an offer to travel to new york city to help choose a good jury .
he accepts ( mainly after seeing the paycheck he will receive ) and he flies to new york with his wife .
after proving his worth for selecting juries ( and his perfect winning streak in court ) , the head of the firm , john milton ( al pacino ) , asks him to work permanently as a criminal lawyer .
he graciously accepts , where he is treated almost as a god .
he is given an incredible apartment ( which is bigger than my entire house now ) , and a hefty paycheck .
his life seems to be on the rise .
and of course , his life suddenly begins to waver and slowly decline .
he is attracted to fellow employee christabella ( connie nielson ) , and his wife begins to feel very lonely in her large apartment .
mary ann takes up a friendship with a neighbor who always gives advice , especially if it is not wanted .
meanwhile , kevin nabs a case surrounding alexander cullen ( craig t . nelson ) who apparently murdered three people .
he spends hours upon hours with this case , while forgetting his loving wife , who may or may not be going insane .
all of this while john milton may or may not be the devil himself .
after a while , things turn completely upside-down , as kevin’s wife claims to have seen monstrous images superimposed on her friends .
a fellow employee is murdered in the park , and his mother ( judith ivey ) reveals information about kevin’s real father .
is it all just a big nightmare ?
or is john milton really satan , playing tricks with kevin’s life ?
the devil’s advocate plays out fairly straight-forward , but for some odd reason , the screenwriters wanted to surprise everyone by giving us something we don’t expect .
is this surprise conclusion supposed to make us feel good and go home without feeling depressed or disturbed ?
if so , the devil’s advocate messes up completely , and ironically , i felt more depressed because of the ending as is now , than i would have if it had ended ten minutes early .
i went into the devil’s advocate expecting a shocking horror film , and that is exactly what i got .
i was settled in to be disturbed mentally and emotionally , and that is what i got .
but what was the most disturbing and horrible aspect of the movie is the poor ending ( did i mention that i didn’t like the ending ? ) .
the producers of this film take you on a thrilling roller coaster ride and just as it is ending , they pull the rug out from under you .
films like se7en and the usual suspects can survive with this surprise ending because it is expected , more or less .
we know it is going to end in an unpredictable way .
the devil’s advocate , on the other hand , ends unpredictably , not from us knowing a lot , but knowing nothing at all .
if that is confusing , i recommend watching the film , and then reading that again .
as for the film overall , i enjoyed the entire first two hours , being drawn in by a terrific character study and then adding the supernatural plot to increase the tension build from the character study .
the film runs like a well-built clock , slowly building until finally exploding with a highly charged climax ( and an unpredictable one at that ) .
and then you settle in for a nice resolution , which does not occur .
it was at this point that i felt cheated .
taking us on a terror ride of intrigue , we follow kevin lomax around , as he is the centerpiece of the film .
everything occurs from his perspective .
he is our representation on screen ( sort of ) .
but we are forced to witness a conclusion which makes most of the film seem like a game .
i don’t want to spoil the ending , so all i can say is go see the film and decide for yourself .
perhaps the most shocking thing about the devil’s advocate is the extreme amount of everything .
it earned its r rating for a reason .
there is plenty of nudity , sex , violence , gore , and then you have gore , violence , sex , and more nudity .
this film really isn’t subtle about anything , showing us everything .
it actually surprises me that this film did not receive an nc-17 rating , as it is quite harsh .
however , the movie does have its merits , and nudity and sex are among those .
i don’t condone sex and nudity in films , but if its there , i might as well enjoy it .
the biggest merit of this film is also the most interesting to watch .
the confrontations between kevin lomax and john milton are entertaining , but what stands out amidst this extreme hatred is the decline of the wife , mary ann .
portrayed by the extremely effective charlize theron , mary ann’s problems are incredibly intense , and i found myself wanting to witness her decline .
this may sound uncaring , but i wanted to watch because i felt sorry for her .
she is the most interesting character on the screen , who is forced into a world where she is not wanted .
something the devil’s advocate contained actually shocked me for reasons other than extreme violence and nudity , especially for a film of this nature .
the story actually has something to say about humanity .
in one of the last scenes , john milton explains to kevin lomax the game god plays with his children ( he is satan , of course ) .
he comments that it is human nature to lust and loathe in vanity .
then , god sets up rules which contradict human nature .
this semi-religious bashing is more humorous than frightening .
what milton says is so true about our society that i found myself laughing out loud , partially thinking it was funny , but patially realizing it was true .
these moral dilemmas are present throughout the devil’s advocate , giving it an added depth many films skip over in their writing ( but i’m sure they came straight from the novel it was based on ) .
when a film has something to say about our society , it deserves to be watched .
the cast of the devil’s advocate is one of the highlights , as we see memorable faces , and they put spins on those memorable faces we don’t expect .
heather matarazzo makes a brief appearance as the terrorized victim in the opening court case , and she does a great job .
probably the big surprise of this film is keanu reeves .
he has proven himself an uneven actor ( successes such as speed and bombs such as johnny mnemonic ) , but he tops himself with this performance .
i have never seen him more believable to date .
al pacino is of course the scene stealer .
his devilish performance is equal to those of jack nicholson ( the witches of eastwick ) and max von sydow ( needful things ) .
he could have easily gone too far over the top in many scenes , but he remains completely believable ( if that is the correct term ) .
jeffrey jones ( mostly known as the principal in ferris bueller’s day off ) also gives a good performance as eddie barzoon .
judith ivey manages a credible performance as the mother who holds a secret to kevin’s past .
connie nielson is very effective in her role , and she also appears naked several times .
one familiar face with a twist was ” coach ” star , craig t . nelson , who gives a very good performance .
the devil’s advocate is rated r for sexuality , nudity , violence , language , and some gore .
at 144 minutes , this film moves along fairly quickly .
for the first two hours , i sat completely engaged in the good performances and strong characters .
the technical quality is also remarkable , with great special effects and a good musical score .
director taylor hackford has managed to create a very disturbing motion picture , only to ruin a good chunk of tension with the final fifteen minutes .
i guess my biggest problem with the ending is the fact that i went into the theater expecting a disturbing film , and hackford gave me just that for a long time .
but just before the end , he got jitterish and relied on the hollywood safety net in order to make his film more mainstream .
personally , i would have preferred it ending fifteen minutes early .