Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3337 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-01-25
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French, Italian
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Dutch, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 138 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Too old for Hamlet and too young for Lear--what's an ambitious actor to do? Play the Devil, of course. Jack Nicholson did it in The Witches of Eastwick; Robert De Niro did it in Angel Heart (as Louis Cyphre--get it?). In The Devil's Advocate Al Pacino takes his turn as the great Satan, and clearly relishes his chance to raise hell. He's a New York lawyer, of course, by the name of John Milton, who recruits a hotshot young Florida attorney (Keanu Reeves) to his firm and seduces him with tempting offers of power, sex and money. Think of the story as a twist on John Grisham's The Firm, with the corporate evil made even more explicit. Reeves is wooden, and therefore doesn't seem to have much of a soul to lose, but he's really just our excuse to meet the devil. Pacino's the main attraction, gleefully showing off his--and the Antichrist's--chops at perpetrating menace and mayhem. --Jim Emerson

Special Features
2.33 Wide Screen
French\Italian
English\Italian
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English French Italian
Dolby Digital 5.1
Interactive Menus
Production Notes
Scene Access
TV Spots
Audio Commentary
Arabic\Dutch\English\French\Italian\Portuguese\Spanish

Synopsis
Promising young lawyer Kevin Lomax (Keanu Reeves) has never lost a case--even when his client is guilty. When Kevin is seduced away from his sleepy hometown in Florida to work for a flashy, charming lawyer (Al Pacino, in a role he seems born to play), his mother (Judith Ivey) has reservations. But as he works his way up the corporate ladder, Kevin manages to put them aside, along with his wife's (Charlize Theron) needs and the stirrings of his conscience over knowingly defending the guilty. However, his vanity won't let him start losing now. As Kevin's career skyrockets, his neglected wife Mary Ann begins to see evil, violent visions. Hoping a visit from his mother will help, instead Kevin finds himself confronted with a secret his mother has never told him. As Mary Ann seemingly descends into madness, Kevin begins to suspect his boss may be much more than he seems, and he finds himself faced with a choice between saving his own life and saving his soul. Thought-provoking, inventive, and entertaining, director Taylor Hackford's film is reminiscent of psychological horror films like ROSEMARY'S BABY. Andrzej Bartkowiak's lush, innovative cinematography complements the smart script and dead-on acting.

Customer Reviews

Paradise Lost (Three-and-a-Half Stars)
Did anyone notice that the Satan's name in this entertaining-but-flawed flick is Milton, and that the marble reliefs which come to tantalizing life on Al Pacino's wall also allude to the great English poet's masterpiece?

I feel that "Devil's Advocate" has some good material, including touches of humor, some stunning cinematographic effects, and the performances by Ms. Theron and Al Pacino, who chews the scenery with such devilish panache that he dominates Keanu Reeves (but perhaps that is the point). And while the film, which combines legal ethics (or the lack of them) with the "Rosemary's Baby" genre, held my interest from start to finish, it did not quite come together--whether because of choppy editing or the "Dallas" option that precedes the ending, I am not certain. I did find the actual ending, however, to be wickedly ironic.

Nevertheless, "Devil's Advocate" is by no means a complete loss of time for the viewer, although it may represent an opportunity lost on the part of the writers and the director.

Sell your soul? No thanks mate
Keanu Reeves plays Kevin Lomax a brilliant attorney whose success causes such interest in him that a very powerful Firm in New York offer him a great job. Lomax takes it and he and his wife (played by Charlize Theron) move to the big apple to begin their new life. Sadly, things aren't quite what they seem. Al Pacino is no other than Satan himself and Reeves is actually his son (having done the deed with his mother many moons ago). Things start to go horribly wrong for Lomax who realises that his wife has gone crazy with a need to go home as well as a place of work that appears more odd to him the harder he looks. The film ticks along nicely throughout and Pacino does put in a good effort. Reeves also does his part well and the film is enjoyable. There is little to be critical about here. Its not deep and meaningful (in my view) but is the sort of film you will watch more than once. That in itself is praise enough.

Do you believe in God or Satan?
Forget the actors. I suspect nobody but Al could do the lead, but thats not the point.
This film will seperate people. Its either amazíngly bríllíant or rubbish, no 'in-betweens'. Its sort of an allegory of life itself, i.e. do you "belive in God" or not?
I suspect Christians will hate this film. However you have to applaud the screenwriter, and I've never seen a better film about the conflict of good versus evil. This is one of those films that deserves a seperate discussion page, but I dont know how to do that.
I sort of feel that the story is based on a classic pre-Christianic mythical battle between "good and evil", or between "God, and son of God", possibly of Indian origin? I dont know, but I look forward to other opinions.