The Devil's Advocate

The Devil's Advocate is a really glossy Hollywood product with the slightly too pretty and bland Keanu Reeves in the lead role as a successful defence lawyer who gets an offer he cannot refuse. After a sensational win in his home town in Florida, Kevin Lomax is contacted by a representative of a huge firm in New York that could well use a defender of his calibre. Together with his lovely wife Mary Ann, Kevin moves to NY, where he is given a permanent position by the firm's charismatic boss, John Milton. At work things go swimmingly for Kevin, but on the home front all is not so well. In fact it gets worse and worse as Mary Ann begins to see visions and harm herself.

The film is very literal and hides nothing from its audience. Just look at the title. It is rather dull that as a viewer you are never allowed to do even the slightest bit of interpretation yourself. Everything is spelled out. On the minus side it should also be mentioned that the film is simply too long. For example, there are too many unnecessary courtroom scenes. Al Pacino is good as the devil, naturally. As bedraggled and pitiful as he seemed in "Donnie Brasco", he is just as superior here. The ending has a nice twist. Incidentally, the gorgeous Christabella is played by Connie Nielsen, who is said to be Danish through and through. So why on earth have we not heard more of her here at home?