urbanlegend23
02-09-2002, 05:12 PM
The Devil’s Advocate
http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0118971/1-2.jpg
I used to like The Devil’s Advocate. I used to think it was everything a movie needed. Then I saw it again, and I can safely say I wasn’t really that impressed. This movie is necessarily bad, but its not great either, its on the so-so level of filmmaking. But with a great cast, a neat idea and promising adverts, The Devil’s Advocate should’ve been much more.
I’ll start with the things that really got to me the second time round. One of those things was the acting in the film. Keanu Reeves is not my most favoured actor around today. Unfortunately with The Devil’s Advocate, Keanu can just tick off another character he can’t play – a lawyer. Reeves provided no suspense or fun with his performance, and he just really bugged me. Charlize Theron overacts horribly. At the start Theron is very good, but after she falls under the spell of the devil (Pacino), her character gets very mentally unstable and Theron goes over the top. Jeffrey Jones’s character was just there to be another infamous cast member, but I thought his character was boring and I didn’t find his performance as enjoyable or stylish as his other roles. Pacino is the only leading cast member who is able to find some juiciness to his character, and he is a greatly entertaining Satan. There is no comparison to his other performances, but he’s pretty cool in this role.
The lead character is another problem with the film. You might be able to put this under the “Keanu-Reeves-can’t-act-category”, but Reeve’s Lomax is a dumb leading man who always puts himself first and is a selfish and senseless idiot. I feel this problem may be more with the silly and recycled script than Reeve’s acting, but the film suffered because of it.
The ending is probably the worst thing about the movie. Not only is it totally confusing and typical, but it takes the easy way out. The Devil’s Advocate is not a movie that can challenge itself. It always has to finish sequences by taking the quick way instead of giving the audience something to think about.
All that said, there is always the stylish directing, some good visuals and special effect sequences, nicely done law scenes (which are strangled by Reeve’s over-acting) and a few excellent and very modern editing. The movie looks and feels great. All this is unfortunately mustered and busted by the horrid character development, lots and lots of plot holes and the fact that the film actually has no message. Maybe its good to see how people react to temptation in some scenes, but I came out of the film still really confused about what the movie was actually about and why the hell all the stuff that happened in the film was really happening. So, my conclusion of The Devil’s Advocate is this: a poor excuse to see lots of nudity and sex scenes. Miss this over-long bore, even if Connie Neilsen naked is a bonus.
5/10
http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0118971/1-2.jpg
I used to like The Devil’s Advocate. I used to think it was everything a movie needed. Then I saw it again, and I can safely say I wasn’t really that impressed. This movie is necessarily bad, but its not great either, its on the so-so level of filmmaking. But with a great cast, a neat idea and promising adverts, The Devil’s Advocate should’ve been much more.
I’ll start with the things that really got to me the second time round. One of those things was the acting in the film. Keanu Reeves is not my most favoured actor around today. Unfortunately with The Devil’s Advocate, Keanu can just tick off another character he can’t play – a lawyer. Reeves provided no suspense or fun with his performance, and he just really bugged me. Charlize Theron overacts horribly. At the start Theron is very good, but after she falls under the spell of the devil (Pacino), her character gets very mentally unstable and Theron goes over the top. Jeffrey Jones’s character was just there to be another infamous cast member, but I thought his character was boring and I didn’t find his performance as enjoyable or stylish as his other roles. Pacino is the only leading cast member who is able to find some juiciness to his character, and he is a greatly entertaining Satan. There is no comparison to his other performances, but he’s pretty cool in this role.
The lead character is another problem with the film. You might be able to put this under the “Keanu-Reeves-can’t-act-category”, but Reeve’s Lomax is a dumb leading man who always puts himself first and is a selfish and senseless idiot. I feel this problem may be more with the silly and recycled script than Reeve’s acting, but the film suffered because of it.
The ending is probably the worst thing about the movie. Not only is it totally confusing and typical, but it takes the easy way out. The Devil’s Advocate is not a movie that can challenge itself. It always has to finish sequences by taking the quick way instead of giving the audience something to think about.
All that said, there is always the stylish directing, some good visuals and special effect sequences, nicely done law scenes (which are strangled by Reeve’s over-acting) and a few excellent and very modern editing. The movie looks and feels great. All this is unfortunately mustered and busted by the horrid character development, lots and lots of plot holes and the fact that the film actually has no message. Maybe its good to see how people react to temptation in some scenes, but I came out of the film still really confused about what the movie was actually about and why the hell all the stuff that happened in the film was really happening. So, my conclusion of The Devil’s Advocate is this: a poor excuse to see lots of nudity and sex scenes. Miss this over-long bore, even if Connie Neilsen naked is a bonus.
5/10