Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Aspiring Florida defense lawyer Kevin Lomax accepts a job at a New York law firm. With the stakes getting higher every case, Kevin quickly learns that his boss has something far more evil planned.
The Devil's Advocate is elevated primarily by its performances — Al Pacino delivers a scenery-chewing, magnetic turn as John Milton while Keanu Reeves holds his own as the ambitious Lomax, making Acting a clear standout. The plot is a solid Faustian bargain thriller that hits its beats competently but leans heavily on familiar corruption-and-temptation tropes without much surprise. Cinematography is polished and stylish for a late-90s supernatural thriller but not visually distinctive. Novelty is moderate — the law-firm-as-hell conceit gives it a memorable hook, but the seven-deadly-sins framework is well-trodden ground. The ending is the weakest element: the 'it was all a vision' reset feels like a cop-out that undermines the dramatic consequences built up throughout, robbing the film of lasting impact.