NYC in the Raw, Issue 7: THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE (1997)

We all know the joke. “What do you call a thousand lawyers holding hands at the bottom of the ocean”. “A good start”. Lawyers have always been considered a pariah of a profession. That reputation is not exactly unearned. You’ve seen the absurd advertisements around the boroughs of NYC (and even Long Island). “Did you fall on the sidewalk, we can help” “Been in an accident, we will get you the best settlement”. Hell, I’ve even been pulled into the drama that is the Cellino and Barnes split, two famous lawyers who had their ads splattered all around town until they had a falling out (now you see Cellino with his new underling and Barnes with his new partner). With the notion of lawyers in mind, my next movie up in the NYC In the Raw series begs to ask these two questions: What if the devil himself decided to become the head of the most prolific law firm in the city? And what if he was played by iconic actor Al Pacino? I hope you are ready because we are about to discuss 1997’s The Devil’s Advocate.

On the rise Florida lawyer Kevin Lomax (Keanu Reeves) has never lost a case. After his latest triumph in the courtroom, he is approached by Leamon Heath (Ruben Santiago-Hudson) with an offer to come to NYC to be part of a jury selection for an illustrious law firm, headed up by John Milton (Al Pacino). Despite pushback from his hyper religious mother (Judith Ivey), he accepts the job and goes to NY with his southern belle wife Mary Ann (Charlize Theron). After finding success with the jury selection, he is officially offered a position within the firm. His first case, a triple homicide involving real estate magnate Alexander Cullen (Craig T. Nelson), is one for the books and puts a strain on his personal while accelerating his professional life at a breakneck pace. Soon enough, the once idyllic life has suddenly begun to show cracks. As Mary Ann spirals into madness from disturbing visions and Kevin’s work and personal life begin to unravel, the ultimate endgame of the mysterious Milton begins to reveal itself.

The Devil’s Advocate is a pure, coked out 90s sleaze thriller if I’ve ever seen one. Sex, nudity, insane performances. It’s all here, front and center. I had forgotten the copious amounts of nudity (courtesy of Charlize Theron and Connie Nielsen, with a side assist from Keanu’s butt) and the unexpectedly graphic sex scenes for a major studio picture. It was nice when major motion pictures were decidedly not prude about sex and nudity. The emergence of superhero films and the era of sterile and passionless mainstream cinema have made these kinds of films few and far in between. During the 90’s, Al Pacino decided to shift in the tone of what kind of performance he brings to the table, not in quality but more in how BIG he could go. While he always played his roles over the years – Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico – in a certain big and bravado way, he certainly took it up a notch when the 90’s came marching in. Beginning with 93’s Scent of a Woman, Pacino decided to dial up his intensity to 11. This carries over to 95’s Michael Mann crime caper Heat (the movie with a few memorable Pacino memes – “…cause she had a GREAT ASS” being the most iconic one). This trend continued with The Devil’s Advocate. While Pacino manages to keep his performance in check somewhat most of the time, the 90’s Pacino I know and love comes exploding out in the final 15 minutes, chewing up all the scenery he possibly can before it disappears into the night. The final, which is essentially an extended monologue that is broken up occasionally but another character uttering a syllable or two, you can tell that this was the sequence that Pacino was holding all his energy towards. Bombastic, loud expressions of anger, humor and genuine exuberance are on display throughout, and it’s clear that Pacino is having a blast in this entire sequence.

This was also in the time of Keanu’s career where he was in a slight funk between ‘94’s Speed and the seismic movie event that was 99’s The Matrix, but he turns in a very committed and surprisingly emotional performance. It also helps that he looks positively gorgeous in every frame. His struggle with his command of accents – see Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Much Ado About Nothing – does rollover to here with his attempt at a Southern drawl, but it’s really a non-issue due to his total commitment to the role. When he cradles the dying Charlize Theron in his arms and weeps uncontrollably, it’s probably some of the best emotional work he has done before or since. Really good stuff. While on that topic, Charlize Theron also turns in a solid early performance in her career as the embattled wife Mary Ann. The wild range of emotional distress that Theron must display in this role must have been exhausting to lock into and out of daily while filming, but as usual, Charlize displays exactly the type of powerhouse performer she would become in the years that followed. She’s magnetic and you can’t help but just get sucked into her performance. We also get a broadly evil supporting turn from Craig T. Nelson as sleazy megalomaniac real estate developer Alex Cullen, the one Keanu must defend in court for a triple homicide. This character has some not-so-subtle shades to real life scumbag Donald Trump and it does help you truly revile his character overall, even when there is a sliver of a doubt that he might have not did the crime (not so fun fact – the opulent gold apartment that is the setting of Nelson’s characters living quarters was filmed in Trump Tower – UGH). To top off this excellent cast, we get an early performance from the always glorious Delroy Lindo. It’s a small part, and it’s a little insensitive and a tad racist in characterization, but Lindo always does his best to elevate the material and makes it truly memorable.

As with all the movies I have covered so far this year, we are treated to a generous helping of on location shooting across NYC. We get a good mix of various locales across Manhattan, The Financial District, Chinatown, and Central Park West. As usual, I always appreciate a movie that takes place in NYC while also making the genuine effort to shoot whatever they can in said city, despite the stress and monetary strain it can cause on the budget of a movie, especially one that is already pushing the limits with the salaries of Pacino and Reeves. On a personal note, I work down in the financial district myself and I found it neat that a shot of Al Pacino walking into a subway station was the J/Z/4/5/6 train stop at Chambers Street (The M train is also shown on the signage, but that line no longer stops there – always intrigued when I see things from the city in older movies that have changed, either slightly or greatly, over the years).

So, I’ve spoken about the skin game and the performances of this movie, but what about the actual film itself? Is it any good? At the end of the day, The Devil’s Advocate is a decent legal thriller with the bonus of some horror elements laced throughout. The legal thriller was a THRIVING genre in its heyday of the 90’s, primarily from excessive amount of John Grisham adaptations. The Firm, The Client, The Pelican Brief and countless other big budget, A-list actor infused films littered the landscape, and The Devil’s Advocate is no different, albeit with the twist of the supernatural sewn into the overall narrative. While it truly owes some residuals to Rosemary’s Baby, the story itself is told serviceably – with a script by Andor showrunner/creator, Tony Gilroy – and it never feels bogged down or hindered by any pacing issues. Director Taylor Hackford is not exactly a riveting auteur, but he gets the job done and moves the film along at a nice clip. The glee of Pacino and hyper commitment of Reeves elevate the material above their B-movie aspirations, but the simplistic non-horror plot elements and heavily borrowed ideas from other flicks do keep this film from reaching the heights of pure classic. It’s good sleazy fun when all is said and done and it’s completely worth a viewing alone for the annihilation of the screen that Pacino does in the final act. It makes it memorable and that is all you can ask for really.