OK, full disclosure, I have a thing for Al Pacino. I'll watch just about anything he's in and...if he screams and yells a monologue in it, if he delivers a diatribe of rage....yeah I get flashbacks to him screaming: "I'd take a flame thrower to this place" and roll my eyes back like a shark in a feeding frenzy.
Oh, yeah, almost forgot, Keanu is in this one too...but for a good slice of the film he doesn't play the most savory of characters and, really, honestly, he just seems too nice to play a lawyer...
...but despite that he does a pretty good job of exhibiting the ego that has to come with the law profession...just not the vile evilness. So, I can't totally fault him for miscast as I could for Dracula.
Jeffery Jones is in there too and due to recent revelations he totally fits the sleazy lawyer role.
But yeah, 1997, the 90s had a way with films that was only really beaten by the 70s and The Devil's Advocate is one of those films that could really only be made in those two decades. Stand alone horror not intended as a franchise piece and one with a twist that asks you to think a little.
No way that would be made today and that is a shame.
I could tout its glory, but really, honestly, the movie could have stank and I wouldn't care thanks to Pacino screaming "I'm a fan of man!" It's worth the watch.
Apparently I saw this before (had a rating on my computer program) but didn't really remember much of it. A bit uneven between a serious drama with supernatural fantasy, but I had fun with these performances by Reeves and Pacino (forgot how normal he once looked) and never a bad thing with Charlize Theron and Connie Nielsen being there for the obvious reasons. Not great and could've cut some of the running time but still found it somewhat entertaining. **3.5/5**