The Devil’s Advocate
| Year: | 1997 |
| Director: | Taylor Hackford |
| Writer: | Andrew Neiderman |
| Cast: | Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron, Jeffrey Jones, Craig T Nelson, Connie Neilsen, Heather Matarazzo |
I read the novel the movie's based on years before seeing this, and it was a strange choice to adapt into a film with two of the biggest stars of the day (although Keanu Reeves had been quiet for awhile at that point). It was a very typical trashy horror paperback written in the 'small New York horror publishing in the 1980s' style.
Reeves is Kevin, a talented young defence lawyer who catches the attention of a very respected city firm led by the charismatic John Milton (Pacino).
After strange goings on both at work and with his beautiful wife (sometime Reeves collaborator Charlize Theron), the truth behind Kevin's recruitment slowly emerges, and the source of Milton's seemingly evil power becomes apparent (although allowing for Hollywood's usual esteem for lawyers it isn't too much of a surprise even if you don't know the story).
Taylor Hackford isn't quite Terence Malick, but it's usually a long time between drinks for him, and this was his last project before the ill-fated Russell Crowe vehicle Proof of Life three years later.
Reeves is Kevin, a talented young defence lawyer who catches the attention of a very respected city firm led by the charismatic John Milton (Pacino).
After strange goings on both at work and with his beautiful wife (sometime Reeves collaborator Charlize Theron), the truth behind Kevin's recruitment slowly emerges, and the source of Milton's seemingly evil power becomes apparent (although allowing for Hollywood's usual esteem for lawyers it isn't too much of a surprise even if you don't know the story).
Taylor Hackford isn't quite Terence Malick, but it's usually a long time between drinks for him, and this was his last project before the ill-fated Russell Crowe vehicle Proof of Life three years later.