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The Devil’s Advocate poster

The Devil’s Advocate

year 1997decade 90sdirector Taylor Hackfordgenre Horrorgenre Thriller

143

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Keanu Reeves Kevin Lomax
Al Pacino John Milton
Charlize Theron Mary Ann Lomax
Jeffrey Jones Eddie Barzoon
Judith Ivey Mrs. Lomax

The Devil’s Advocate | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Van Lathanproducer Isaiah Blakely theme Courtroom Month
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Picking Nits

Too little courtroom material

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:14:17Read transcript
  • The Gettys and Cullen trials are interesting but abbreviated, especially as Mary Ann’s subplot takes over.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Dated supernatural visual effects

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:59Read transcript
  • A more serious directorial approach is considered; moving artwork and overt supernatural effects can undermine the climax.
  • The special effects have not aged well, but were cool and frightening when first seen.

Roger Ebert's review

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:32:41Read transcript
  • The review objects that the film is neither serious exploration nor fully dark comedy and calls the epilogue a cheat, while acknowledging splendid moments.

Most Rewatchable Scene

The final Milton speech; the subway scene; the rooftop meeting

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:32:59Read transcript
  • The opening cross-examination is gripping but immediately exposes the protagonist’s cruelty toward a child he knows is telling the truth.
  • The rooftop meeting is praised as harrowing and visually convincing.
  • The hair suggestion, Mary Ann’s shopping trip and demonic vision, and Milton speaking Spanish on the subway are nominated.
  • The subway threat escalates through increasingly specific humiliations, including the victim’s favorite green bedspread; the travel logistics are jokingly questioned.
  • Kevin’s concise opening statement undermines his own client while winning the jury’s goodwill.
  • Eddie Barzoon’s death and Milton’s monologue are praised; jogging is mocked, and the horsemen color symbolism and societal indictment are discussed.
  • The scene where Charlize kills herself is called intense and great but explicitly not rewatchable.
  • The final confrontation and speech are praised; the empty street suggests supernatural limbo, and Milton’s gestures and emphases are singled out. Kevin’s ignorance is defended as necessary to the contrast.
  • Final preferences include the look-but-don’t-touch speech, the subway and the rooftop meeting.
  • The Moyez basement scene is belatedly praised despite the Haitian accent; a longer television version could spend episodes on the case.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

The rooftop water garden

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:34:55Read transcript
  • The first rooftop meeting is explicitly given the Great Shot Gordo award.
  • The rooftop garden’s physical setting and added visual effects are praised as unusually convincing for this film.

Recasting Couch

Adebisi’s actor as Moyez

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:48:14Read transcript
  • The actor known as Adebisi is proposed for the voodoo practitioner instead of Delroy Lindo; Lindo’s improvised-sounding accent is criticized, and the alternative performer is called underused.

What’s Aged the Best?

Charlize Theron’s arrival as a star (performance disputed); the contrast with Connie Nielsen

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:49:01Read transcript
  • Theron’s youth and rapid emergence in the mid-1990s are praised.
  • The acting divides the panel: one finds Charlize’s dialed-up performance bad, while another says she must be annoying enough for Kevin to prefer his boss’s company.
  • Nielsen’s seductive New York sophistication contrasts with Mary Ann’s hometown beauty and domestic expectations; her progressive unraveling is praised.
  • Another response finds the sustained distress grating and underdeveloped; others defend the performance as a deliberately difficult character, pitched against Milton’s equally intense seduction.

What’s Aged the Best?

New York cameos and real estate; face-switch sex scene; research carts; Department of Justice investigations

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:57:24Read transcript
  • Don King embracing a friendship with the devil and the New York cameos are praised, along with the offices and apartments.
  • The face-switch sex scene is praised as an effective device.
  • The arrival of carts full of research books is a favorite courtroom trope, though Kevin lacks the usual legal sidekicks.
  • Department of Justice investigations and paper-trading details evoke 1990s New York.

The Big Kahuna Burger Award for Best Use of Food and Drink

Voodoo meat; Mary Ann’s fried chicken

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:59:20Read transcript
  • The ritual meat is proposed as frightening food; another participant rejects that response based on familiarity with Louisiana practices. Gainesville shots are briefly offered.
  • Mary Ann eating what appears to be Popeyes chicken while painting is enthusiastically endorsed.

The Sean Penn “I Brought My Own Pack” Award for Excellence in On-Screen Smoking

Keanu Reeves

The panel proposes a new category here.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:00:25Read transcript
  • A new Jimmy Conway Award for best or worst smoking is proposed; Reeves appears to smoke awkwardly by character choice despite being a smoker in real life.
  • Kevin’s lapse after quitting is offered as an explanation, but the performance is still criticized; Pacino handles cigarettes as naturally as an extra finger.

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

Supernatural visual effects; accents

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:46Read transcript
  • Demon transformations look dated, although the institution scene remains effective; ambiguity might have worked better.
  • The overt demons change the nature of the film; one participant would classify dated effects as Aged Worst rather than Weak Link because the problem is repairable.
  • Delroy Lindo’s and Reeves’s accents become alternative weaknesses, with Reeves’s accent fluctuating between scenes and exaggerating Gainesville speech.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Accents; Cullen’s sexual alibi; newspaper revelations; Eddie Barzoon’s jogging; Pacino’s teeth; deleted party scene; Jeffrey Jones

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:03:23Read transcript
  • The accents fluctuate and overstate Southern speech.
  • Cullen’s claim of three and a half hours of sex is mocked as implausible.
  • Learning bad news from a morning newspaper headline is a vanished movie convention.
  • Barzoon’s jogging and Pacino’s conspicuous teeth are criticized; whether the teeth are a character choice remains unresolved.
  • A deleted party threesome scene could have made Mary Ann’s suspicions more understandable and should have remained.
  • Seeing Jeffrey Jones now prompts thoughts of his reported criminal history rather than the movie.

The Ron Burgundy Flute Award for the Best Time for a Pee Break

Milton and Mary Ann at the party; painting conversation

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:08:13Read transcript
  • The prolonged party conversation is a suggested break.
  • The painting conversation is another suggestion, specifically excluding the chicken eating; a counterargument reads the green paint as significant color symbolism.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Keanu Reeves as the greatest bad actor of the last 35 years

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:11:26Read transcript
  • Reeves is called a beloved major star with limited acting and accent skills, who found an ideal stripped-down style in John Wick.
  • His blankness is defended as making extraordinary events believable in The Matrix and this film.
  • His effectiveness is said to depend on the role, with action and Californian characters working better than Shakespeare, scientists or other stretches.
  • His distinct star quality is defended as valuable even without prestige-acting range.

Casting What-Ifs

Joel Schumacher and Brad Pitt; repeated Pacino refusals; Reeves’s pay cut; Theron’s hesitation

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:16:40Read transcript
  • A proposed 1994 version with Schumacher and Pitt would have modeled the subway on Dante’s circles of hell; it reportedly collapsed without an actor for Satan.
  • Pacino reportedly rejected the project five times, Reeves accepted reduced pay to secure him, and Theron hesitated about nudity.

Recasting Couch

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:16:58Read transcript
  • Replacements for Jones include Ridgely, Hall and Macy; Hall is questioned as insufficiently plausible as a jogger.
  • Skerritt is proposed for Cullen, and Pitt is recalled as a stronger lead.
  • Pitt and Depp are suggested as actors who could have elevated the lead role.
  • Redford is rejected as Milton, while Nicholson is considered able to deliver the speeches.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:18:56Read transcript
  • Jeffrey Jones, Paul Benedict and the Law & Order: SVU actor are considered; Jones’s recognizability is disputed.
  • The panel agrees on the actor nicknamed Machine; the subway antagonist is an additional unresolved familiar face.
  • Bauer’s television and late-1990s credits are reviewed; his supposed High Fidelity appearance is questioned as potentially deleted.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Sculpture lawsuit; rooftop construction; real boxing match; Connie Nielsen’s arrival; cleared street; composite makeup

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:22:31Read transcript
  • A sculpture copyright dispute reportedly required edits in later releases; the rooftop was on the 50th floor with the stage eight feet from the edge.
  • The film used a real October 1996 Roy Jones Jr. fight; Kevin’s support for the opponent is criticized as boxing ignorance.
  • Nielsen reportedly had been in America a month before casting; the empty-street shot used a Sunday 7:30 a.m. closure of 57th Street.
  • The Lucifer transformation reportedly combined Reeves and Pacino life masks, including a Godfather-era mask, with Rick Baker involved.

Apex Mountain

Satan on film; Roy Jones Jr.; Cullen’s sexual alibi; Charlize Theron eating chicken

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:24:38Read transcript
  • No actor is considered at career Apex; Pacino’s Satan is favored over other screen devils.
  • Scary rooftop scenes are considered without a firm affirmative answer; Roy Jones Jr. is endorsed at his peak.
  • Roy Jones Jr.’s song is raised as a competing memory; the senator and Don King are not endorsed.
  • Joking affirmative subjects are the murder-time sexual alibi and Theron eating fried chicken.

Picking Nits

Rushed trials; Kevin’s marriage; his mother’s secrecy; “Dad”; Larry’s hygiene; the ending

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:26:38Read transcript
  • Trials move too quickly, recesses are casually granted, and surprise evidence is admitted without adequate review; Kevin is also a poor husband.
  • The mother’s knowledge of Milton, lack of warning and recognition after decades raise questions; Kevin suddenly calling Milton Dad feels odd.
  • The dreamlike reset ending is challenged, while Satan’s continual testing is offered as an explanation.
  • Larry does not wash his hands in either version of the bathroom scene.
  • One interpretation sees a time loop: rejecting the bargain sends Kevin back for another test, while accepting would let events continue.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Accepting Satan’s offer after Mary Ann’s death

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:31:13Read transcript
  • The panel jokingly considers whether power and a relationship with Kevin’s half-sister beat returning to Gainesville, then imagines a child-raising sequel.

Picking Nits

The prosecutor’s discarded glasses

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:12Read transcript
  • The prosecutor oddly throws his glasses onto Kevin’s table after questioning the child.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Prestige television; prequel; all-Black gender-flipped remake

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:12Read transcript
  • A television version is obvious but might depend on casting and network; a reported 2014 Judgment Day prequel adaptation failed to launch at NBC.
  • Samuel L. Jackson is proposed as Milton, followed by enthusiasm for Viola Davis as a female devil.
  • Zazie Beetz or Tessa Thompson are proposed before the idea expands to a full gender flip.
  • Jay Ellis is imagined in the spouse role, with concern about audience response to him obstructing a woman’s career; Michael B. Jordan and Jayson Tatum are floated as seductive alternatives.
  • Sam Jackson remains appealing, while Viola could have fun giving the fan-of-man monologue.

Is This Movie Better With…?

Wayne Jenkins

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:37:55Read transcript
  • Jackson is acknowledged, then an imagined Wayne Jenkins reacts to Kevin’s identity and incestuous prospect; the running joke declares him the winner.

Just One Oscar

Al Pacino; screenplay

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:38:34Read transcript
  • Pacino is proposed, but the script receives support; direction is considered well paced without earning an Oscar choice.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Trump’s alternate acting career; Gator fans; the Antichrist’s lineage; Pacino’s apparent aging

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:39:14Read transcript
  • Casting Trump as Cullen prompts speculation about whether an acting career would change his later political trajectory.
  • The film’s implications for Florida Gator fans are jokingly questioned.
  • The hosts debate whether the Antichrist requires incest, specific parentage or markings, compare other films and imagine a reluctant Antichrist comedy.
  • Pacino appears much older than in Heat despite a two-year gap; smoking, cinematography and styling are possible explanations.
  • Oversized suits are criticized, with debate about Michael Jordan’s influence on mid-1990s fashion.

The Andy and Red – Zihuatanejo Award for What Happens the Next Day?

Renewed temptation through publicity; Satan turns to Steve Spurrier

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:45:19Read transcript
  • Larry’s proposed exposé might preserve Kevin’s legal career while exploiting vanity again, although the trial and disciplinary consequences remain unclear.
  • A joke imagines Satan abandoning Kevin for football coach Steve Spurrier, with a response that he already has him.

The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson

Take responsibility for free choices; pay attention to your spouse

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:46:25Read transcript
  • Temptation does not remove personal responsibility.
  • Keeping one’s spouse happy becomes a second lesson and an incest joke.

Producer review

Unfinished viewing; not a favorite; avoids Satan films

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:47:08Read transcript
  • The addressed producer says an hour remains, the film is not a favorite, he watches few movies and does not enjoy Satan material.

More from the conversation

The hosts place the film between Heat and later Pacino roles, and discuss Reeves declining Speed 2 after a run of poorly received projects.
Approx. transcript time · 00:02:41Read transcript
The film’s excess, broad entertainment appeal and provocative religious monologues are praised; a teenage viewing prompted questions about faith.
Approx. transcript time · 00:04:57Read transcript
The free-will theme is distinguished from being forced into evil: Kevin repeatedly chooses temptation even when Milton offers an alternative.
Approx. transcript time · 00:09:15Read transcript
Pacino’s unpredictable emphases and apparently exuberant performance are contrasted with his quiet, seductive confidence opposite Mary Ann.
Approx. transcript time · 00:11:47Read transcript
The hosts report development from Andrew Neiderman’s novel and renewed legal-film interest after the O. J. Simpson trial.
Approx. transcript time · 00:13:53Read transcript
The Cullen character is compared with Donald Trump; the hosts discuss filming in Trump’s apartment and quote reported Gilroy and Hackford anecdotes about the location.
Approx. transcript time · 00:15:29Read transcript
Milton, Dante and Faust provide literary parallels to a film that mixes serious questions about evil and capitalism with cartoonish behavior.
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:04Read transcript
The hosts compare the advertised devil reveal with Primal Fear and Rosemary’s Baby; the subway scene is proposed as the point at which an uninformed viewer would understand Milton.
Approx. transcript time · 00:19:22Read transcript
Discussion contrasts 1970s Satan films with this contemporary version, and explores the appeal of money, sex and New York to a young viewer from the South.
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:31Read transcript
The hosts recount formative fear from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Omen, Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, Ghost and Drag Me to Hell.
Approx. transcript time · 00:28:21Read transcript
Reported box-office figures are $57 million budget and $153 million gross; a career ranking places the film fifth for Pacino, behind Ocean’s Thirteen, The Godfather, Heat and Dick Tracy. This is a six-title discussion, not a Top Ten List.
Approx. transcript time · 00:31:35Read transcript
The hosts report that Theron declined Showgirls before accepting nudity in this film because of the opportunity to work with Pacino and Reeves.
Approx. transcript time · 00:53:40Read transcript