BACK COVER SYNOPSIS: Hotshot attorney Kevin Lomax's 64-0 case record has brought him a tempting offer from an elite New York firm. But the job Lomax accepts isn't what it seems. The Devil is in the details. In this gleeful, modern gothic fable, Keanu Reeves plays eager Lomax and Al Pacino is the charismatic firm founder who knows there are cases to be won... and souls to be lost. From Lomax's court triumphs and skyrocket rise to its double-twist ending, "The Devil's Advocate" is red hot entertainment. Lomax's life, wife (Charlize Theron) and soul are on the line. He's landed a job that's Heaven on Earth... which can lead him straight to hell.

FILM REVIEW: I have to confess to having a soft spot for movies where the story revolves around the Devil appearing on Earth to engage in his either evil and/or mischievous doings. In “The Devil’s Advocate”, Al Pacino does his turn as the latter; a mischievous, naughty boy-style devil who is nonetheless very intelligent, articulate and always on the ball. It’s a real pleasure to watch him having fun with this part, especially as his foil, Keanu Reeves, plays the straight man in this encounter as the young hot-shot lawyer who gets sucked in to the Devil’s playbook. It was a stroke of brilliance that director Taylor Hackford chose to use the law as the outlet for the Devil’s work; in this case on the side of defence where the more nefarious characters in society are likely to be set free (all as part of the Devil’s plan). “The Devil’s Advocate” is a dark, sometimes amusing but nonetheless entertaining Devil story with some standout performances, starting with none other than Al Pacino himself.

Keanu Reeves stars as the hot-shot lawyer Kevin Lomax who will do anything to win every case. In the opening sequence, he is defending a man whom he discovers to be guilty. But instead of doing the right thing, he does his job to perfection, getting the otherwise guilty man acquitted. This catches the eye of Al Pacino's Devil who invites him to join his law firm in New York. This is the beginning of a dark, downward journey for Lomax as he slowly but surely gets spun in to the Devil's web, a point he doesn’t truly appreciate until his wife played by Charlize Theron inexplicably commits suicide after being tormented by images of the Devil.

Al Pacino is the reason to watch this film. He commands the screen from start to finish, and is clearly having a lot of fun with the part. His final monologue where he’s explaining to Keanu about what God is really like is hilarious. What makes his Devil different to other on-screen portrayals of the character is that he actually doesn’t force anyone to do anything. He proclaims at one point, “free will, it’s a bitch!”. He can only influence which brings up the theme of throwing the ultimate responsibility of evil deeds back on to us as humans for allowing the Devil’s influences to guide our behaviour. It’s a wonderful take on the character, and allows him to be more three dimensional; as portrayed by Pacino, the Devil is evil, but he’s more naughty and mischievous, and you can actually see his point. Maybe God is playing us all for fools. And as Al Pacino’s Devil would have you believe, at least he’s talking straight with you.

Keanu Reeves is surprisingly good in his role as Kevin Lomax, having to carry the film for the bulk of proceedings. He’s really playing the straight man who gets drawn in to this extraordinary situation, and he actually holds his own against Pacino. He plays him with a lot of internal conflict as he slowly realises that his own ego and vanity are destroying everyone around him that he loves. It is through him that we get the human perspective of what is right and what is wrong. As the Devil says to him at one point after his wife’s suicide, “you could have saved her at any time. It was in your power to do so… but in the end, you loved someone more… yourself!”

The film is glorious to look at. The use of time-lapse photography in certain sequences is rather disturbing, giving an almost other-worldly feel to the narrative, particularly as most of them book-end encounters with the Devil. A scene on top of the Devil’s office building is also magnificent; with the rooftop actually not having a readily visible edge making for a great sense of vertigo, not to mention opulence with the watery surface. There’s also a rather eerie scene towards the end of the film when a New York street is devoid of any life whatsoever (except for Keanu). Atmospheric shots like this, combing with a creepy musical score add a lot to the overall experience of the film.

“The Devil’s Advocate” is gripping, entertaining and dark with a touch of humour. It’s a great film with a memorable performance from Al Pacino as the ultimate bad guy.

TECHNICAL REVIEW: The transfer of the picture is decent, although it's not as crisp as what it could be. There are some film scratches and jumps in a few places, particularly in the first few seconds where the Hollywood logos appear. Aside from that, the colours are quite good and well represented, it's just a shame the picture is a little soft. The audio is particularly good, particularly with the atmospheric musical score and other-worldly effects added to enhance the Devil's dark qualities. Overall, the transfer is quite good but good have been better.

EXTRAS REVIEW: The major extra in this package as an audio commentary by director Taylor Hackford which is scene specific and very detailed, and almost makes up for the lack of a making-of documentary. There are also trailers, subtitles, an additional French and Italian language soundtrack, as well as text-based behind the scenes material. It's okay, but nothing spectacular and isn't really on par with most 2-disc special editions of other movies which offer so much more. In this respect, this DVD is probably of best value when on sale.

BOTTOM LINE: Worth having in the collection.