The Devil's Advocate

The Devil's Advocate (1997)

Genres - Mystery, Horror, Drama, Thriller  |   Sub-Genres - Supernatural Horror  |   Release Date - Oct 13, 1997 (USA - Unknown), Oct 17, 1997 (USA)  |   Run Time - 143 min.  |   Countries - Germany, United States  |   MPAA Rating - R
  • AllMovie Rating
    6
  • User Ratings (0)
  • Your Rating

Share on

Review by Adam Goldberg

Part John Grisham thriller and part Rosemary's Baby, Devil's Advocate is a sharp and compelling film that comes to life thanks to an energetic performance from Al Pacino. While most fictional films concerning temptation and religion are often inane and unrealistic, the playfully slick script by Tony Gilroy and Jonathan Lemkin makes this particular outing both thought-provoking and engaging. Keanu Reeves may be dwarfed by Pacino's acting skill, but he gives an astonishingly decent performance. Reeves is the straight man of the narrative, and proves that he can handle roles that require him to deliver dialogue (as opposed to his dismal performances in A Walk in the Clouds and Much Ado About Nothing). The film explores themes like temptation, sexual depravity, and vanity, while never allowing special effects to become the main focus of the story, and the fantastical climax, set to the Frank Sinatra version of "It Happened in Monterey" is part camp, part thriller, and part soap opera. It is the jolting finale to a surreal and enticing film that takes chances and truly raises some hell.