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wingedbeastThe Devil's Advocate, for those who've forgotten, is the movie in which Keanu Reeves plays a small town lawyer with such a winning track record that he's hired by a high-priced, high end, big city law firm. He gets all the trappings of success. And, of course, he works for Satan.
One of the virtues of this movie is that it never plays Al Pacino's character being Satan as a twist to be revealed. It's not stated out loud, but it assumes we already know. With the premise of the movie, the name The Devil's Advocate, and the advertising, we do. So, no need to say it or to pretend to hide it.
Beyond that, this movie is a mass of wasted potential.
Al Pacino's acting is a highlight, to be sure, but also a wasted potential. Pacino gives life to a couple monologues, stated by the Devil. He makes them impactful and entertaining. But, he can't make them meaningful. The writing doesn't allow for that, because they don't accomplish anything.
For the audience, they only repeat what is said in a number of different ways. Al Pacino's character is the devil. We already know that. No additional information is communicated about the Devil's perspective or motivation.
Within the story, Pacino's character isn't making any point in any argument, making any case, trying to convince anybody of anything. Within the story, Satan is complaining to someone who can't do anything about his complaint, also known as whining. A whiny Satan can be anywhere from intriguing to funny, but nowhere close to what The Devil's Advocate is going for.
This movie fails at multiple levels of potential.
The movie we expected, going in, was that of a young lawyer moving to the big city, being employed by and getting the special attention of an employer that is actually The Devil. This has potential. What is it about this young lawyer that the Devil's interested in and for what purpose?
The young lawyer is the Devil's offspring and the Devil wants to bring about the Antichrist. That says... nothing about the lawyer, save that he's said offspring. And, the means of bringing about the Antichrist (rather than, say, being the Antichrist), means that there's nothing about his character that's of any merit to the process. But, being the Antichrist has interesting story possibilities, regarding questions about personal responsibility versus destiny and morality in a reality in which God himself has destined you to be evil.
Oh, wait, he's not really the Antichrist, but has to conceive the Antichrist with his biological half-sister (which, aside from the morality, also has a heafty level of gross to it and no reason given why Keanu Reeve's character would agree to such a thing).
Not only is he not the Antichrist, but he's one of many sons of the Devil, all of whom always win. It's just that they don't all have the necessary ambition. That's an intriguing idea, but not explored. It's just there to make being the son of the devil all the more banal.
Even the title is wasted potential. The Devil's Advocate is the Devil's, as in offspring, and just happens to be an advocate. Nothing about the role of Devil's Advocate is explored at all. It's not even a pun, just semantics.
No, if we're going to employ a story about Satan taking a particular interest in one lawyer and going to call this story The Devil's Advocate, let's actually use that phrase.
My understanding of the official title, Devil's Advocate, is that it's an office within the Catholic Church. The purpose is to skeptically inquire and investigate claims such as potential saints, claims of miracles, and similar, specifically with an eye towards disproving.
More commonly, the role of devil's advocate is that of taking the unpopular or opposing position for the purpose of debate or conversation.
Either way, this is a role that serves a purpose. It helps to keep us from being blinded to other possibilities and modes of thought. It keeps us from thinking that only the obvious and/or self-gratifying is true. It's also key to our criminal justice system. Everybody gets a defense, even if it seems totally obvious that they did it. Sometimes, the totally obvious isn't actually true, regardless of how often it's been repeated.
If we're going to have this story, let the advocate that can, in some way, be called "the Devil's" actually advocate for the Devil. I know, this makes the title a pun, but I maintain that's an improvement.
A young lawyer, a lawyer known for winning cases, draws the attention of The Devil. The Devil approaches and offers a job. Instead of being a big city, high priced, high status job, the draw will be the advocate's own ethics. Whether a lawyer agrees with a client or not, so long as the matter is legal, the client is allowed to make his case in court and the best case is essential for justice. It's an imperfect system, but it's one that works best when people don't pervert it even in service of their own conscience.
The Devil's promises aren't wealth and power, but a case that he can make without anything approaching a violation of his ethics. He won't suborn perjury or assist in the commission of crimes. In fact, he won't be a defending attorney, the Devil will be the Plaintiff. The charges brought will include defamation of character and nigh-infinite amounts of murder and manslaughter.
Yes, we're all familiar with the old argument. "I don't make you do anything. You do evil all on your own." It's a point we're all familiar with, one that's not wrong... but also one that's well made already. Instead, the focus should be on how the concept of a The Devil that is a total evil in opposition to a total good is, itself, an evil. People will commit murder and large scale terrorism in the name of defeating evil.
Sympathy for the devil isn't just a phrase teens can use to scare their parents. It's essential for comprehending and distinguishing good from evil.
One of the virtues of this movie is that it never plays Al Pacino's character being Satan as a twist to be revealed. It's not stated out loud, but it assumes we already know. With the premise of the movie, the name The Devil's Advocate, and the advertising, we do. So, no need to say it or to pretend to hide it.
Beyond that, this movie is a mass of wasted potential.
Al Pacino's acting is a highlight, to be sure, but also a wasted potential. Pacino gives life to a couple monologues, stated by the Devil. He makes them impactful and entertaining. But, he can't make them meaningful. The writing doesn't allow for that, because they don't accomplish anything.
For the audience, they only repeat what is said in a number of different ways. Al Pacino's character is the devil. We already know that. No additional information is communicated about the Devil's perspective or motivation.
Within the story, Pacino's character isn't making any point in any argument, making any case, trying to convince anybody of anything. Within the story, Satan is complaining to someone who can't do anything about his complaint, also known as whining. A whiny Satan can be anywhere from intriguing to funny, but nowhere close to what The Devil's Advocate is going for.
This movie fails at multiple levels of potential.
The movie we expected, going in, was that of a young lawyer moving to the big city, being employed by and getting the special attention of an employer that is actually The Devil. This has potential. What is it about this young lawyer that the Devil's interested in and for what purpose?
The young lawyer is the Devil's offspring and the Devil wants to bring about the Antichrist. That says... nothing about the lawyer, save that he's said offspring. And, the means of bringing about the Antichrist (rather than, say, being the Antichrist), means that there's nothing about his character that's of any merit to the process. But, being the Antichrist has interesting story possibilities, regarding questions about personal responsibility versus destiny and morality in a reality in which God himself has destined you to be evil.
Oh, wait, he's not really the Antichrist, but has to conceive the Antichrist with his biological half-sister (which, aside from the morality, also has a heafty level of gross to it and no reason given why Keanu Reeve's character would agree to such a thing).
Not only is he not the Antichrist, but he's one of many sons of the Devil, all of whom always win. It's just that they don't all have the necessary ambition. That's an intriguing idea, but not explored. It's just there to make being the son of the devil all the more banal.
Even the title is wasted potential. The Devil's Advocate is the Devil's, as in offspring, and just happens to be an advocate. Nothing about the role of Devil's Advocate is explored at all. It's not even a pun, just semantics.
No, if we're going to employ a story about Satan taking a particular interest in one lawyer and going to call this story The Devil's Advocate, let's actually use that phrase.
My understanding of the official title, Devil's Advocate, is that it's an office within the Catholic Church. The purpose is to skeptically inquire and investigate claims such as potential saints, claims of miracles, and similar, specifically with an eye towards disproving.
More commonly, the role of devil's advocate is that of taking the unpopular or opposing position for the purpose of debate or conversation.
Either way, this is a role that serves a purpose. It helps to keep us from being blinded to other possibilities and modes of thought. It keeps us from thinking that only the obvious and/or self-gratifying is true. It's also key to our criminal justice system. Everybody gets a defense, even if it seems totally obvious that they did it. Sometimes, the totally obvious isn't actually true, regardless of how often it's been repeated.
If we're going to have this story, let the advocate that can, in some way, be called "the Devil's" actually advocate for the Devil. I know, this makes the title a pun, but I maintain that's an improvement.
A young lawyer, a lawyer known for winning cases, draws the attention of The Devil. The Devil approaches and offers a job. Instead of being a big city, high priced, high status job, the draw will be the advocate's own ethics. Whether a lawyer agrees with a client or not, so long as the matter is legal, the client is allowed to make his case in court and the best case is essential for justice. It's an imperfect system, but it's one that works best when people don't pervert it even in service of their own conscience.
The Devil's promises aren't wealth and power, but a case that he can make without anything approaching a violation of his ethics. He won't suborn perjury or assist in the commission of crimes. In fact, he won't be a defending attorney, the Devil will be the Plaintiff. The charges brought will include defamation of character and nigh-infinite amounts of murder and manslaughter.
Yes, we're all familiar with the old argument. "I don't make you do anything. You do evil all on your own." It's a point we're all familiar with, one that's not wrong... but also one that's well made already. Instead, the focus should be on how the concept of a The Devil that is a total evil in opposition to a total good is, itself, an evil. People will commit murder and large scale terrorism in the name of defeating evil.
Sympathy for the devil isn't just a phrase teens can use to scare their parents. It's essential for comprehending and distinguishing good from evil.
