The Devil's Advocate Turns 29: How Al Pacino, Keanu Reeves, and Charlize Theron Created One of Hollywood's Most Sinister Thrillers
What if the Devil didn't have horns, glowing red eyes, or a throne surrounded by fire?
What if he wore an expensive suit, lived in a luxurious Manhattan penthouse, and ran one of the most prestigious law firms in New York City?
And what if the easiest way to sell your soul wasn't through some ancient supernatural ritual, but simply by accepting the promotion you'd spent your entire life chasing?
On October 17, 1997, audiences were introduced to that disturbing possibility when The Devil's Advocate arrived in American theaters.
Directed by Taylor Hackford, the film brought together three performers at fascinating stages of their careers: Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, and Charlize Theron.
Reeves played Kevin Lomax, a gifted Florida defense attorney whose ambition takes him from a modest courtroom to the extravagant offices of a Manhattan law firm.
Theron portrayed Mary Ann, his increasingly isolated wife, whose frightening experiences suggest that something deeply unnatural is happening around them.
And Pacino delivered a deliciously theatrical performance as John Milton, a charismatic lawyer whose greatest secret is considerably darker than corporate corruption.
Released 29 years ago, the film remains a memorable combination of supernatural horror, legal thriller, psychological drama, religious allegory, and dark satire.
It asks a question that feels just as relevant today as it did in 1997:
How much of your humanity would you sacrifice to become successful?
The Devil's Advocate (1997): Movie Facts at a Glance
Detail | Information |
|---|---|
Release date | October 17, 1997 |
Director | Taylor Hackford |
Screenplay | Jonathan Lemkin and Tony Gilroy |
Original novel | Andrew Neiderman (1990) |
Main stars | Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron |
Genre | Supernatural horror, legal thriller |
Runtime | 144 minutes |
Estimated budget | $57 million |
Worldwide box office | Approximately $153 million |
Major award | Saturn Award for Best Horror Film |
Release, production, and box-office information verified through AFI, Box Office Mojo, and The Numbers.
The Story: A Young Lawyer Who Never Loses a Case
Kevin Lomax has a remarkable professional record.
Working as a defense attorney in Florida, he possesses an extraordinary ability to win cases, even when the facts raise uncomfortable questions about the people he represents.
He is intelligent, persuasive, ambitious, and increasingly proud of being undefeated.
But his talent comes with a dangerous weakness.
Winning matters to Kevin more than almost anything else.
His conscience is frequently forced to compete with his professional reputation.
Then an opportunity arrives that seems almost too good to be true.
A powerful New York law firm wants him.
The salary is extraordinary. The accommodations are luxurious. The professional opportunities appear limitless.
The firm's leader, John Milton, takes a particular interest in Kevin's abilities.
And Kevin, understandably, is thrilled.
The Price of Moving to New York
Kevin and his wife, Mary Ann, leave Florida for an entirely different world.
Their new surroundings are almost absurdly luxurious.
They meet wealthy, influential people.
Kevin begins handling important cases for clients whose money and power seem capable of overcoming virtually any obstacle.
But as his career accelerates, his marriage begins to deteriorate.
Mary Ann becomes increasingly disturbed by her surroundings.
She experiences frightening visions that seem to reveal something monstrous beneath the polished surfaces of their new life.
Kevin, meanwhile, becomes so absorbed in professional advancement that he struggles to recognize the danger growing around him.
The lawyer who can see weaknesses in everyone else's arguments cannot recognize the trap being constructed around his own desires.
That contradiction is the foundation of the film's horror.
Al Pacino as John Milton: The Devil in an Expensive Suit
Few elements of The Devil's Advocate are as memorable as Al Pacino's performance.
His John Milton is not a traditional horror-movie villain.
He is charming, sophisticated, funny, articulate, and frequently entertaining.
He understands human weakness because he knows exactly what people want.
Rather than threatening Kevin, Milton encourages him.
He offers opportunities.
He provides luxurious surroundings.
He praises ambition.
And he carefully creates situations in which Kevin can justify choices that gradually become more destructive.
Why Pacino's Devil Is So Effective
The character's greatest weapon is not supernatural force.
It is persuasion.
Milton rarely needs to command people directly when he can make them believe their decisions are entirely their own.
He understands vanity, desire, insecurity, competitiveness, and the need for recognition.
These qualities make his influence particularly unsettling.
The audience recognizes that Kevin is being manipulated, yet many of the temptations themselves are familiar.
Who hasn't wanted a better job, a more comfortable life, or the admiration of powerful people?
Milton simply takes those ordinary desires to their most dangerous extremes.
A Villain Who Enjoys His Work
Pacino also gives Milton an almost mischievous enthusiasm.
He moves between quiet conversations and explosive speeches.
One moment he appears to be an unusually perceptive mentor.
The next, he reveals flashes of something ancient, arrogant, and terrifying.
His performance is deliberately extravagant, especially during the film's final act.
Contemporary critics were divided over that theatricality.
Some admired its energy, while others believed the film became excessively bombastic.
But the performance remains one of the principal reasons audiences continue revisiting the movie.
Keanu Reeves as Kevin Lomax: A Man Destroyed by His Own Ambition
Kevin Lomax is not introduced as an evil man.
He is a talented attorney who has learned to measure his success through courtroom victories.
That distinction makes his character interesting.
He does not begin the story by knowingly agreeing to work for Satan.
He begins by accepting an opportunity that appears to reward years of professional effort.
And then, whenever he encounters a reason to reconsider, he finds another justification to continue.
Success Becomes an Addiction
Kevin enjoys the recognition his work brings.
He enjoys being wanted by a prestigious firm.
He enjoys the financial rewards.
And perhaps most importantly, he enjoys believing that he is exceptionally good at something.
But his ambition gradually consumes the parts of his life that should matter beyond work.
His relationship with Mary Ann suffers.
His moral judgment becomes increasingly compromised.
He becomes more interested in winning than understanding whether a victory is worth achieving.
This is what makes Kevin more than a conventional horror protagonist.
His weakness is disturbingly ordinary.
The Devil doesn't have to invent Kevin's ambition. He only has to encourage it.
Charlize Theron as Mary Ann: The Film's Emotional Heart
While Pacino dominates many of the film's most theatrical moments, Charlize Theron gives The Devil's Advocate much of its emotional intensity.
Mary Ann begins the story excited about the opportunities awaiting her and Kevin in New York.
She believes their move represents the beginning of a better life.
But once they arrive, her excitement gradually gives way to isolation.
Kevin becomes increasingly unavailable.
Their social environment feels unnatural.
And Mary Ann begins experiencing frightening visions that threaten her sense of reality.
The Horror of Not Being Believed
One of the film's most disturbing elements is Mary Ann's inability to convince Kevin that something is wrong.
Her experiences seem impossible to explain.
The people around her appear unconcerned.
And Kevin increasingly interprets her distress as an obstacle to his professional responsibilities.
This isolation makes her storyline deeply unsettling.
The supernatural horror is frightening, but so is the ordinary human experience of desperately seeking support from someone who refuses to listen.
Theron's performance captures that vulnerability with considerable intensity.
She portrays fear, confusion, love, resentment, and emotional devastation without reducing Mary Ann to a simple victim of supernatural forces.
An Early Glimpse of a Future Oscar Winner
In 1997, Theron was still establishing herself in Hollywood.
Her performance in The Devil's Advocate helped demonstrate that she could handle emotionally demanding material alongside two major stars.
Six years later, she would deliver her Academy Award-winning performance in Monster.
Looking back, The Devil's Advocate offers an intriguing early example of the dramatic intensity she would later bring to some of her most acclaimed roles.
The Literary Influences: Paradise Lost, Dante's Inferno, and Faust
What makes The Devil's Advocate particularly interesting is that its supernatural mythology is drawn from centuries of literary and religious tradition.
The film is adapted from The Devil's Advocate, but its thematic foundations reach much further back.
John Milton and Paradise Lost
The name John Milton is no coincidence.
It references John Milton, the English poet who wrote Paradise Lost.
Published in 1667, the epic poem explores the rebellion of Satan, humanity's fall, obedience, temptation, and free will.
One of its most influential elements is the portrayal of Satan as an extraordinary speaker who uses rhetoric, pride, and persuasion to advance his ambitions.
Pacino's John Milton shares those characteristics.
He is verbally gifted, self-assured, and capable of making rebellion sound like liberation.
His arguments are often entertaining enough to make the audience temporarily forget the monstrous nature of the person delivering them.
The reference rewards viewers familiar with Paradise Lost, but it also works as a dark joke.
The man named after the author of an epic about Satan turns out to be Satan himself.
The Influence of Dante's Inferno
The film also draws on the imagery and moral architecture associated with Inferno by Dante Alighieri.
In Dante's poem, the protagonist travels through Hell, encountering punishments linked to different forms of wrongdoing.
The Devil's Advocate offers a modern version of a journey into moral darkness.
Instead of descending through physical circles of Hell, Kevin moves upward through professional society.
Every promotion brings him greater wealth and prestige.
Yet each advancement also takes him deeper into corruption.
The contrast is deliberate and powerful.
Kevin believes he is climbing toward success while the audience watches him descend.
The Legend of Faust
The film also belongs to the long tradition of Faustian stories.
In the Faust legend, a scholar makes a bargain with the Devil in exchange for extraordinary knowledge, pleasure, or power.
Different literary versions explore the consequences of ambition and the exchange of spiritual integrity for worldly rewards.
Kevin's bargain is less explicit.
He does not initially sign a supernatural contract.
Instead, he repeatedly makes choices that place success ahead of his conscience.
That makes the modern adaptation especially unsettling.
The bargain is not contained in one dramatic moment.
It is made gradually.
One compromise at a time.
The Film's Most Disturbing Idea: Evil Doesn't Always Look Evil
Many horror films make evil immediately recognizable.
The villain may wear a mask, possess supernatural features, or emerge from darkness.
The Devil's Advocate takes almost the opposite approach.
Its most dangerous character is wealthy, articulate, successful, and professionally admired.
John Milton does not need to hide from society.
He occupies one of its most prestigious positions.
A Criticism of Power and Corporate Culture
The film uses a powerful law firm as the setting for its moral allegory.
Its wealthy clients seem protected from consequences.
Its attorneys possess enormous influence.
Its senior partner understands that public respectability can conceal destructive intentions.
This is why the movie works as more than supernatural entertainment.
It raises questions about the institutions that society associates with success.
Does professional achievement necessarily demonstrate moral worth?
Can exceptional intelligence become dangerous when separated from empathy?
What happens when winning becomes more important than justice?
These questions extend beyond the legal profession.
They apply to any environment where ambition, prestige, and wealth can make ethical compromises easier to rationalize.
The Supporting Cast That Helped Build the Film's Sinister World
Although Reeves, Pacino, and Theron receive most of the attention, the supporting cast is essential to the film's atmosphere.
Actor | Character |
|---|---|
Jeffrey Jones | Eddie Barzoon |
Judith Ivey | Alice Lomax |
Craig T. Nelson | Alexander Cullen |
Connie Nielsen | Christabella Andreoli |
Delroy Lindo | Phillipe Moyez |
Chris Bauer | Lloyd Gettys |
Heather Matarazzo | Barbara |
Tamara Tunie | Jackie Heath |
The supporting characters help construct a world where wealth, influence, professional rivalry, and temptation appear to shape every interaction.
Eddie Barzoon represents the treacherous environment of Milton's firm.
Alexander Cullen demonstrates how power and money can complicate questions of legal responsibility.
Alice Lomax, Kevin's mother, provides a connection to the religious and moral traditions he increasingly dismisses.
And Christabella Andreoli becomes especially significant as the story approaches its supernatural climax.
Together, these characters give the film a larger social world rather than reducing it to a simple confrontation between one lawyer and the Devil.
Taylor Hackford's Direction: Turning Manhattan Into a Modern Hell
Director Taylor Hackford had already established himself through films such as An Officer and a Gentleman, Blood In Blood Out, and Dolores Claiborne.
For The Devil's Advocate, he combined elements of courtroom drama, psychological thriller, supernatural horror, and religious fantasy.
The result is visually distinctive.
New York becomes a city of towering buildings, luxurious apartments, gleaming offices, and enormous spaces that somehow feel increasingly suffocating.
Luxury as a Form of Horror
The film's most disturbing locations are not abandoned houses or remote graveyards.
They are places designed to communicate achievement.
Expensive apartments.
Elegant offices.
Exclusive gatherings.
Luxurious penthouses.
Yet the more beautiful Kevin's surroundings become, the more sinister the atmosphere feels.
The setting reinforces the central theme: appearances can conceal moral decay.
And sometimes the most dangerous temptation is precisely the thing everyone around you considers desirable.
The Devil's Advocate Ending Explained: Why Vanity Is the Ultimate Trap
Spoiler warning: This section discusses the film's ending.
By the final act, Kevin learns that John Milton is not simply an extraordinarily manipulative attorney.
He is the Devil.
Milton reveals the larger purpose behind Kevin's recruitment and attempts to persuade him to embrace a horrifying destiny.
The confrontation forces Kevin to recognize how thoroughly his choices have been shaped by ambition.
The Illusion of Free Will
One of the film's most interesting questions concerns whether Kevin has been making genuinely independent decisions.
Milton manipulates circumstances, offers opportunities, and encourages Kevin's weaknesses.
But he repeatedly frames his actions as merely providing choices.
The distinction is morally important.
Kevin has been influenced, but the film also asks whether he can accept responsibility for his actions.
When he finally rejects Milton's plan, the narrative appears to offer him an escape.
Yet the story has one more twist.
The Final Temptation
The ending returns Kevin to an earlier point in the narrative.
He makes a different choice, apparently rejecting the selfish ambition that led him into Milton's world.
But almost immediately, another form of temptation emerges.
This time, it is not money or corporate prestige.
It is public admiration.
The possibility of being celebrated for his moral courage appeals to the same vanity that previously threatened to destroy him.
Milton reappears, reminding the audience that temptation does not disappear simply because someone resists it once.
The film ends with one of its most memorable lines:
Vanity, definitely my favorite sin.
The final irony is devastating.
Even the desire to be recognized as virtuous can become another form of pride.
That is what makes the ending more than a conventional horror-movie twist.
The Devil's greatest weapon is not forcing people to do evil. It is finding new ways to make them admire themselves.
The Real-Life Lawsuit Over the Film's Demonic Sculpture
One of the most unusual stories surrounding The Devil's Advocate occurred after its theatrical release.
A large sculptural installation appearing in John Milton's apartment became the subject of a copyright dispute.
Sculptor Frederick Hart argued that the imagery resembled his work Ex Nihilo, installed at Washington National Cathedral.
The dispute involved Warner Bros. and the depiction of sculptural human figures in the film.
The case was eventually settled in 1998.
As part of the resolution, elements of the sculpture's appearance were modified for later home-video versions of the movie.
Why Different Versions of the Film Look Different
Viewers comparing the original theatrical presentation with later releases may notice differences in the artwork visible during certain scenes.
These variations arose from the legal dispute.
It is a fascinating example of how a film's visual design can continue changing after its initial release.
And in a movie about an attorney who literally works for the Devil, the fact that its artwork became the subject of a real lawsuit has an almost irresistible irony.
The Devil's Advocate at the Box Office
Despite its unusual combination of genres and relatively mature themes, The Devil's Advocate performed respectably in theaters.
According to Box Office Mojo, it earned approximately:
Box-office figures exclude the separate economics of marketing, distribution, and ancillary revenue.
The film earned roughly 2.7 times its reported production budget at the worldwide box office.
That ratio does not, by itself, establish its final profitability, but it demonstrates that the film found a substantial theatrical audience.
Critical Reception: Mixed Reviews, Lasting Appeal
At the time of release, critics were divided.
Some praised the film's entertainment value, Pacino's performance, and its willingness to combine supernatural ideas with a contemporary legal setting.
Others criticized its length, excess, and occasionally heavy-handed philosophical dialogue.
Roger Ebert's review recognized the intriguing central premise while finding flaws in the film's storytelling.
Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times admired aspects of its style and energy but argued that its later sequences became overcomplicated and excessively theatrical.
The audience response has proved more enthusiastic.
The film also won the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film at the 1998 ceremony, demonstrating recognition within the science-fiction, fantasy, and horror film community.
Why The Devil's Advocate Still Holds Up Nearly Three Decades Later
What makes The Devil's Advocate memorable is not merely the revelation that Al Pacino is playing Satan.
The title and promotional materials made that possibility fairly obvious even in 1997.
The real strength of the movie lies in the gradual corruption of its protagonist.
Kevin doesn't lose himself because he suddenly becomes fascinated with evil.
He loses himself because he keeps choosing professional success over uncomfortable moral responsibilities.
That conflict remains relevant.
Modern professional culture continues to reward ambition, extraordinary productivity, prestige, and the appearance of success.
Those qualities are not inherently harmful.
But the film asks what happens when they become more important than the people and principles that give life meaning.
The Three Performances Still Complement One Another
Reeves gives the story its ambition.
Theron gives it vulnerability and emotional consequences.
Pacino gives it seduction, charisma, and supernatural terror.
Remove any one of those elements, and the film becomes less compelling.
Together, they turn a relatively familiar temptation narrative into something more memorable.
It Belongs to a Distinctive Era of Hollywood Thrillers
The late 1990s produced several ambitious, adult-oriented thrillers willing to explore uncomfortable moral questions within mainstream entertainment.
The Devil's Advocate fits comfortably alongside that tradition.
It is glossy, excessive, occasionally absurd, and deeply fascinated by the relationship between desire and moral compromise.
Those qualities are part of its identity.
Rather than apologizing for its theatricality, the movie embraces it.
And nearly three decades later, audiences continue returning to it.
Frequently Asked Questions About The Devil's Advocate
When was The Devil's Advocate released?
The Devil's Advocate was released in United States theaters on October 17, 1997, by Warner Bros. It marked its 29th anniversary on October 17, 2026.
Who plays the Devil in The Devil's Advocate?
Al Pacino plays John Milton, the charismatic head of a powerful New York law firm who is ultimately revealed to be Satan.
Is The Devil's Advocate based on a book?
Yes. The film is adapted from Andrew Neiderman's 1990 novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Jonathan Lemkin and Tony Gilroy.
Did The Devil's Advocate win any awards?
Yes. The film won the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film at the 1998 Saturn Awards, among other nominations.
29 Years Later, The Devil's Advocate Still Has Something Uncomfortable to Say
On October 17, 1997, The Devil's Advocate introduced audiences to a frightening idea.
The Devil might not arrive as a monster.
He might arrive as an opportunity.
He might offer the perfect job, the luxurious apartment, the admiration of powerful people, and the professional recognition someone has always wanted.
And he might never explicitly demand a soul.
He might simply wait for a person to trade away their principles one decision at a time.
Taylor Hackford's film brought that idea to life through a memorable combination of supernatural horror, courtroom drama, and psychological manipulation.
Keanu Reeves portrayed ambition without wisdom.
Charlize Theron portrayed the terrible emotional consequences of that ambition.
And Al Pacino created a Devil whose greatest talent was making destructive choices sound irresistibly reasonable.
The film was sometimes excessive, occasionally melodramatic, and never particularly subtle about its central message.
But perhaps subtlety was never the point.
Its warning remains recognizable because the desires it examines are ordinary.
We want success.
We want admiration.
We want to believe that our choices are justified.
And sometimes, we want those things so badly that we stop questioning the price.
Twenty-nine years after its release, The Devil's Advocate remains a chilling reminder that the most dangerous temptation may be the one that tells us exactly what we want to hear.
Happy 29th anniversary to one of the most memorable supernatural thrillers of the 1990s.
What remains your favorite part of The Devil's Advocate: Pacino's magnetic portrayal of John Milton, Keanu Reeves's moral unraveling, Charlize Theron's haunting performance, or that unforgettable ending?
Sources and Further Reading
- American Film Institute — The Devil's Advocate. Production, credits, and release information.
- Box Office Mojo — The Devil's Advocate (1997). Worldwide theatrical earnings.
- The Numbers — Production Budget and Box Office. Financial details.
- Rotten Tomatoes — The Devil's Advocate. Reviews and audience response.
- Roger Ebert — Original 1997 Review. Contemporary critical perspective.
- Los Angeles Times — A Case of Satan on Retainer. Contemporary review by Kenneth Turan.
- FilmAffinity — Saturn Award Recognition. Award history.
