The Devil’s Advocate · Movies

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.

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.

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 Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

Empty Fifth Avenue

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 01:01:37Read transcript

The deserted street shot is a second Great Shot Gordo preference, with curiosity about how it was filmed.

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.

Is There a Better Title for This Movie?

The Devil’s Advocate; Paradise Lost; The Last Defense

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:09:08Read transcript

The existing title is initially retained, but spoiler-concealing alternatives include Paradise Lost and The Last Defense.
A joking streaming-film title announces that the protagonist’s father is the devil.

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.

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Charlize Theron

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:17:42Read transcript

Craig T. Nelson, the reporter, Reeves and Pacino are offered before Theron receives the emphatic choice.
Her emotionally heightened argument with Kevin is played as illustration.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Chris Bauer

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.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Delroy Lindo

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 01:20:27Read transcript

Machine, Giselle and Judith Ivey are alternatives; the mother character is disliked, and the final selection is Lindo.

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.

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.

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.