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Revision as of 18:02, 22 April 2006
- This page is about the movie. For the Taylor Caldwell novel, see The Devil's Advocate; for the Morris West novel, see The Devil's Advocate; for the Catholic term see Devil's Advocate.
The Devil's Advocate is a 1997 drama movie directed by Taylor Hackford and based on a 1990 novel by Andrew Neiderman.
This title is a reference to the idiom "Devil's Advocate" and the character of John Milton is named after the author of Paradise Lost (see John Milton). The movie has some minor allusions to the Milton book. For example, the famous quote "better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven," and the concentric fiery circles of hell as described in Dante's Inferno are included at the end of the movie.
Plot
Template:SpoilerHotshot Florida defense lawyer Kevin Lomax has never lost a case, even though many of his clients are not innocent. After winning what appears to be an unwinnable case - defending an apparently guilty schoolteacher against a child molestation charge - he is approached by a representative of the law firm of Milton, Chadwick and Waters, who offers Kevin an enormous sum of money to come to New York to help the firm with a trial. Kevin's sole responsibility in the case is to choose a jury. Subsequently Kevin accepts an offer to leave Florida for good and join the firm as a partner. The firm's chairman, John Milton, a highly charismatic and influential man, becomes Lomax's mentor, pushing him towards arrogance and greed. Meanwhile, Lomax's wife Mary Ann starts descending into schizophrenia as she feels lost and abandoned by her husband, a state which is partially, if not entirely, induced by other "employees" of the law firm, and by visions of demons (in fact, the "employees" are demons). He also finds himself being threatened by Eddie Barzoon (Jeffrey Jones), an attorney with the firm.
Meanwhile, Kevin develops an interest in his colleague Christabella. Mary Ann starts to go insane, particularly after she witnesses Barzoon mercilessly beaten to death. She is institutionalized. While Kevin is on his way to visit her, a mysterious man appears and speaks to him, and this man is soon hit by a car. At the institution, his wife commits suicide, her last words being "I love you".
The story climaxes as John Milton is found to be the devil and Kevin Lomax his son, exploring Kevin's fate versus free will. Milton dismisses the Biblical information that indicates that the Devil will lose Armageddon, and wants Lomax to join him and fellow law partner Christabella Andreoli, who turns out to be Lomax's sister, in a familial union that requires him to produce the Antichrist with Andreoli. Lomax rejects his heritage when he commits suicide and ends Milton's plans.
Lomax is then returned to the past, at the moment when, in the small Florida town, he is mulling over his options while in the courtroom bathroom before successfully defending the aforementioned child molester. It is revealed that the movie had been a flash of conscience for Lomax or, as a more interesting possibility, an even most elaborate mind-game of manipulation played on him by the devil (who confesses repeatedly during the movie that vanity is his favorite sin). Lomax asks to be taken off the case, causing an outrage, and walks off with his wife as they are being followed by reporters. One of them convinces him to be interviewed on the news the following morning. After Lomax walks away, the reporter is revealed to be Milton, who turns to the camera, grins knowingly, and says: "Vanity...definitely my favorite sin." According to the director, Taylor Hackford (director's commentary audio track), the story can also be seen as a giving Kevin a second chance of redeeming his soul, since Lomax bested the devil in his own game.
Legal problems
The film was the subject of legal action following its release. The claim was that the sculpture featuring human forms in John Milton's office closely resembled that on the facade of the National Cathedral in Washington. It was found in favour of the cathedral sculptor, Frederick Hart. The studio was forced to limit the number of copies of the original version of film released to Video, DVD and laser disc, and also to place a notice on all versions explicitly stating there was no implied or intended connection.
The film was then digitally altered to remove the human forms from the sculptures for most of the film. The human forms return for the closing scenes and the ending of the film remains exactly as it originally was. This new version is the one on all DVD and Video releases except the original batch, and also the new version is the only one used for television screenings.
Cast
- Kevin Lomax – Keanu Reeves
- John Milton – Al Pacino
- Mary Ann Lomax – Charlize Theron
- Eddie Barzoon – Jeffrey Jones
- Alice Lomax – Judith Ivey
- Christabella Andreoli – Connie Nielsen
Resemblances
The film's storyline resembles that of That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis, where a scientific institution (the N.I.C.E.) is changed to a law firm, and a young philologist is changed to a young lawyer (Kevin Lomax). Of course, in the novel by Lewis, the devil never has a human appearance, instead, it uses other ways to communicate with his subordinate humans.
External links
- The Devil's Advocate at IMDb
- Official site
- Review Note: doesn't work with Internet Explorer. Also doesn't work with Opera browser if it's configured to "identify as IE", which is the default setting.
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