The Devil's Advocate
Short description
Kevin Lomax is a defense attorney in Florida who has never lost a case, even when he knows his clients are guilty. When a representative of a powerful New York law firm comes calling, he accepts a position with the company, run by the charming and worldly John Milton. Kevin moves north with his wife, Mary Ann, and enjoys the wealth and privileges the job brings. As he wins high-profile cases and grows closer to his new employer, Mary Ann notices unsettling things about their new life, and Kevin gradually realizes that Milton's plans for him reach far beyond the courtroom.
Taylor Hackford directed the film, which arrived in 1997, roughly midway through the run of features he made between 1980 and 2016, after Dolores Claiborne and before Proof of Life. Jonathan Lemkin and Tony Gilroy handled the screenplay. Keanu Reeves plays Kevin, Al Pacino plays Milton, and Charlize Theron plays Mary Ann, with Jeffrey Jones, Judith Ivey and Connie Nielsen in supporting roles.
Made for about 57 million dollars, the film took in around 153 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.5 out of 10 from roughly 441,000 votes, and on TMDB it sits at 7.5 out of 10 from about 7,000 votes. A critics' rating of 6.6 out of 10 from 66 reviews places it somewhat below the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The character John Milton was named after the author of the classic work “Paradise Lost,” which tells the story of a fallen man.
- Initially, the film was intended to include far more special effects, making it a blockbuster. But Al Pacino had already turned down such a project five times. After Taylor Hackford, with the help of several people, rewrote the script, he offered it to Pacino again. The actor liked the new version of the script, but he thought he wouldn't be able to portray Milton adequately and suggested giving the role to Robert Redford or Sean Connery.
- The boxing match attended by Milton and Lomax is not a staged scene, but a world championship boxing match. The fight took place on October 4, 1996, in New York. Roy Jones Jr., the IBF super middleweight champion, fought against Bryant Brannon. The champion won in the second round.
- In the scene where Lomax and Milton walk through the market, you can notice a person carrying a box behind them. The box is labeled: “Haloed.”
- Devil's advocate (lat. advocatus diaboli) is an unofficial name for the position within the institute of canonization and beatification in the Catholic Church. Officially, this position was called 'promoter of the faith' (lat. promotor fidei). It was introduced in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V and officially abolished in 1983 by Pope John Paul II. The function of the devil's advocate was to collect all possible arguments that could hinder the canonization or beatification of a righteous person, which could only take place if the promoter of the faith did not find arguments of sufficient importance to cancel the procedure. Until 1983, no act of canonization or beatification could be recognized as legitimate if a devil's advocate was not present during the act.
- The film is based on Andrew Neiderman’s novel “The Devil’s Advocate” (1990).
- The song playing during the credits (Rolling Stones — Paint It Black) was not included in the official soundtrack.
- When Lomax is in Milton's office at the end of the film, he says: 'Better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven.' The phrase is taken from John Milton's epic poem 'Paradise Lost.'
- This was Connie Nielsen's debut in American cinema.
- The character Connie Nielsen speaks Italian in all versions of the film except the Italian one, where she speaks Spanish. Interestingly, the actress's native language is Danish.
- Keanu Reeves waived a portion of his salary for the film to ensure Al Pacino's participation.
- Originally, Joel Schumacher was supposed to direct the film. And Brad Pitt was going to play the role of Kevin Lomax.
- The scenes in John Milton's office overlooking the outdoor terrace and the panoramic view of New York from a bird's-eye view were actually filmed at the top of a skyscraper: the set was equipped on the 50th floor of the 'Continental Tower' building, located in Manhattan on Wall Street, 8 feet from the edge. Thus, we see a completely real panorama of New York through the window, and not a computer-generated addition.
- To delve deeper into her character, Charlize Theron spent an hour a day for three months visiting a psychotherapist. Thus, she “practiced schizophrenia.”
- Taylor Hackford initially didn't want to cast Charlize Theron for the role of Mary, because in his opinion, she was too beautiful for it.
- After the film's release, sculptor Frederick Hart filed a lawsuit against 'Warner Brothers' on the grounds that the large sculptural panel on the wall of John Milton's penthouse is an exact copy of his work 'Ex Nihilo,' located at the entrance to the Washington National Cathedral of the Episcopal Church USA. In February 1998, as part of a settlement of the dispute, the company agreed to pay the sculptor royalties for the 475,000 copies of the film already released, and the sculpture was to be removed from the film in all remaining copies (despite the fact that this animated panel, visible throughout the film for almost 20 minutes, fits very harmoniously into the structure of the film).
- Keanu Reeves' role could have gone to Edward Norton or John Cusack.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
