Hotshot attorney accepts tempting offer from an elite New York law firm only to find himself fighting for his soul.
Genre: Suspense
Rating: R
Release Date: 7-SEP-2004
Media Type: DVD

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::AMAZON REVIEWS::

Rent First
Again, Al Pacino over the top and Keanu Reeves giving a wooden performance.

But, any film with Charlize Theron nude can't be all bad.

Give it a rental.

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Paradise Lost
This is probably one of the best movies ever made in regard to the main theme of `Paradise Lost'. Al Pacino suits the devil's role just perfect, similarly as Keanu Reeves suits the role of the devil's advocate. I could not imagine any other actors playing the above roles more accurately or more perfectly. Both Pacino and Reeves played superbly throughout the entire film despite their adverse characters. Reeves aptly perform as a young ambitious and ego maniac lawyer who is determined to win every single case at any cost. But Kevin, the lawyer, is a very interesting character, for he is evolving spiritually during the film until he is fatally torn between divine justice and diabolical power. In this respect the devil remains a flat character in comparison, for he is the absolute evil, he never changes, and he never will, whereas the child of Eve, the human, the mortal, the lawyer Kevin, is continuously swaying between the two ancient adverse realms. Yet, the devil took the worst of his advocate and pushed him to the limit by raping his wife, driving her to madness until she kills herself. It should be mentioned that the longer Kevin works for the devil, the clearer it becomes to the viewer that Kevin is not evil, but a good soul who is trapped between the two arch polarities of good and evil. As a viewer one begins to develop sympathy for the hero who was once harsh, arrogant, and a slick repugnant lawyer, because he is human like us, and he is suffering, and his conscience gets heavier and heavier all the time. We take his side because the devil is against him; the devil is his real enemy, thus, our enemy; the enemy of mankind. We want Kevin to do the right thing and change for the better, and he does, even though it is too late. But the viewer does not know, neither Kevin, what his final decision will be. It is a tricky ordeal which confounds even the purest moralists of mankind. Will justice prevail at the end? Will Kevin rebel against the devil who rebelled against God? Paradoxically, Kevin lost everything when he did not dare to rebel against the devil, but when he finally decided that he had enough of the devil, thereupon he rebelled against him; Kevin has won his old life back, and received a second chance to find happiness. It was admirable to watch him losing his career on purpose for the sake of justice and for the sake of the life of a young girl. How many lawyers would do it today? It should be mentioned that despite all of his weakness, Kevin enjoys what we all enjoy as humans, and that is the right of free will. The final test rests upon the issue of free will, and here Kevin wins the case for the good of mankind. After he lost everything, including his lovely wife he came to realize the brutal outcome of his prior selfish ambitions. The psychopathic killer he acquitted in the start of his career just murdered another young girl. How far he will go to win a case rests entirely upon his own conscience. Indeed, it is a moral issue which occupies the moralists of any contemporary rational society. When I watched this film I couldn't help thinking about the role of greedy arrogant lawyers and about the consequences of their vile intentions. It is an exceptional superb film, intriguing until the very end. Nevertheless, the viewer can only rely on the individual resistance against the devil, for we learned from the end that the devil could be lurking on every corner. Vanity is one of his favorites; he claimed and winked, just to make the viewer feel bad, and to remind us that the devil will always be there, somewhere, to test us, and to drive us to madness, because of our weakness. Nevertheless, he told Kevin that it is all a setup, a kind of choreography even, and that it is up to us to make the choice of how to live our lives. There is no rest in life from the devil, or from his temptations, but there is a way to overcome the devil, through resistance and through rebellion against the devil's methods and ways. Vanity may seem trifle, but it is not. I hope Kevin did not allow glory or any exceeding heroism to destroy his life again. Now, I loved this film incredibly much, and I have watched it countless of times. I really wanted to give it five stars, but there was one thing, one flaw, that really made me drop one star off the rating. It was not the wonderful script; it was not the extraordinary acting; it was not the intriguing special affects. It was not the supernatural scenes. It was the name of the devil. Why would any one wish to tarnish the name of the author of `Paradise Lost'? I do not believe this meant to suggest that the viewers in their masses were ignorant, despite the fact that most viewers had never heard of John Milton. Moreover, I did not fail to understand the irony, for the devil is a mocker, and he would surely enjoy misusing, abusing, and tarnishing the good name of John Milton by manifesting as a human. Suppose it was intended by the script writers to render irony, for their defense it could have been acceptable, but not by those who really appreciate `Paradise Lost' or the structure of the film. Firstly, calling the devil John Milton has created a paradox between the reality of the film and our own reality. Was it a fiction film or was it not? I doubt it was intended that the viewer will ask the above question and become confused. Secondly, and that is a matter of judgment, I found it cheap and unprofessional on one hand to call the devil John Milton, and on the other hand I found it unethical, indecent, and disrespectful. If the script writers wish to blame it on the devil, let them do so, but I think it was vanity which made them make this film imperfect. Otherwise, it was one of the best films ever made and I recommend it warmly to everyone who is fascinated by the story of `Paradise Lost'.

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the devil's advocate
I'm a big Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves fan, so this movie hit the spot. Great service and great product.

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Devil's Advocate
Al Pacino is fantastic as always and his end speech near the altar talking about God is superb. Keanu Reeves also delivered one of the best performances. This movie is sexy and provocative. Excellent.

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"Paging Beelzebub, Paging a Mister Beelzebub"
I thought George Reeves was dead. Besides, didn't he play Superman, not the Devil? And -- What's that? George Reeves isn't in the movie? It's *Keanu* Reeves?

... Oh.

Okay, but what's with Charlize Theron, the Devil doesn't chat her up? The Devil doesn't ask her to stand on a mirror? The Devil doesn't order out and ask her to play hide the salami? What kind of a loser of a Devil is this?

What? There's nothing in Aristotle's theory of dramatics that says Charlize Theron has to get hit on by the Devil?

... Oh, okay.

But, but -- but what about Al Pacino, what's his part in this story? Oh, *he's* the devil! What, because he was in The Godfather? Because he's Italian? (Prejudice! Prejudice!) And I suppose Charlize Theron never dated Italians, is that it?!

What's this fellow "Keanu" supposed to be anyway, Hawaiian? What was he Actor of the Year in Oahu? Send him back to his little grass shack. I bet he never met Don Ho. Did he ever say Hi-ho to Don Ho? Do they let Italians into Hawaii? What's the Devil's position on that? And why wasn't Charlize Theron wearing a hula skirt in this flicker? I'm not clear.

Anyway, the Devil's not such a bad guy. He was a pretty popular dude up to the 14th century. That's when he made a big mistake and hired a really awful publicist -- Gina Bellapartes. A dead ringer for Charlize Theron. Italian, a great body, but she couldn't type a lick. Which, the licking part, the Devil got to later on.

That woman sent Beelezebub's career into a tailspin. Hey! Maybe that's why they got Al Pacion to play the Devil! *His* career is in a tailspin, no? -- He's never been to Hawaii. -- George Reeves is still dead. -- And God is in his heaven.

By gosh, by golly, it all makes sense now!

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