The Devil's Advocate

The start is slow, and the ending is unexpectedly bad compared to what we've seen so far and how the film seemed to be shaping up towards what should have happened at the end. However, the acting performances, particularly dominated by Al Pacino, are simply good. Keanu Reeves was perfectly suited for this role, but in comparison, it's clear just how great Al Pacino is. Some scenes here are absolutely great, for example, the one in the subway or the opening scene in the courtroom. (25/09/2014)

Who would have believed after the slightly tired intro that I would be so enthusiastic at the end? After each viewing, I look forward to watching it again, already expecting that the beginning will seem better in the context of the rest of the story. It starts off so innocent, but that's when the biggest surprise comes, when the story starts to pick up pace and the atmosphere thickens to the point where you're anticipating a jump scare with every shot. It's no wonder, director Taylor Hackford knows how to create very disturbing moments (a brilliant and dark sexual scene) and inserts contrasting mysterious visual and audio snippets into innocent moments. However, it is difficult to judge how successful it would have been without the actors. Keanu Reeves, in fact, delivers the best performance of his career and thanks to this film, Al Pacino has definitively become an incomparable acting chameleon. (25/08/2006)

This film is hard to rate. On the one hand, the performances are all excellent, Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron are simply great, and I don't even have to dwell on Al Pacino, he’s one of the best actors ever, after all, and his expression alone foreshadows and represents all the unfortunate events that take place throughout. Those events are truly delicious, by the way, with an appropriate level of nastiness and strong sexual overtones, all accompanied by Howard's haunting music. But there are flaws. First of all, the story is not very strong emotionally, it fails to grab the viewer by the armpits and shake them furiously, instead, it just plays lightly with our curls and pulls out a tuft here and there. OK, the main purpose of the film was certainly not just to scare and increase the psychological pressure, but that doesn't excuse the slightly tedious first half. 80% (24/01/2012)

Originally, I gave it only four stars, but upon further consideration, I decided to add one more because alongside a very good screenplay, which navigates the mysterious genre in an original way, the film also boasts top-notch casting and amazing performances. Al Pacino excels in the role of the ruler of hell. Keanu Reeves reaches his acting peak, Charlize Theron shows that she's not just a pretty model but also an excellent actress, and Connie Nielsen is beautifully corrupt in her supporting role. Overall impression: 90%. (18/06/2006)

The bland greasy mythology, which at times literally detonates due to the director giving too much weight to the reality of the surrounding world, clashes here with solid performances and the typically sterile generic script, whose writers follow the mantra “we don't know where when how - as long as we have Al.” Pacino is a typically cocky dude with an amazing array of expressions, smirks, and poses that you can't help but fall in love with, even though he plays the literal king of villains. It's a shame that Hackford is just a plain craftsman who can't bring the necessary drive and fierceness to any movie about anything. The Devil himself would certainly need that at times. (16/04/2007)