Poster © Warner Bros.. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreDrama, Fantasy & Mystery
RatedR
Runtime2 hr 24 mins
ReleasedOctober 17, 1997
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorTaylor Hackford
StarringKeanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron
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Devil's Advocate (1997)
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| Devil's Advocate's Details | |
| Genre | Drama, Fantasy & Mystery |
| Rated | R |
| Released | 10/17/1997 |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 2 hr 24 mins |
| Budget | $57M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Based On | The Devil's Advocate by Andrew Neiderman |
| Country | United States, Germany |
| Language | English |
| Devil's Advocate's Interests | |
| General | Corner offices, penthouse views, Manhattan rooftops, courtrooms, contracts with very small print. |
| Music | James Newton Howard. Classy and creepy in the same breath. |
| Movies | The Firm (1993). Another young lawyer, another job offer that's too good. |
| Television | Suits. Fancy Manhattan lawyers, far fewer red flags. |
| Heroes | Kevin's mom. She did not like New York from the start. |
| Devil's Advocate's Crew | |
| Director | Taylor Hackford |
| Writers | Jonathan Lemkin, Tony Gilroy |
| Producers | Arnon Milchan, Arnold Kopelson, Anne Kopelson |
| Cinematography | Andrzej Bartkowiak |
| Music | James Newton Howard |
| Edited By | Mark Warner |
| Production | Regency Enterprises, Kopelson Entertainment |
| Distributed By | Warner Bros. |
Who watched Al Pacino play the devil and said, more please, louder? Somebody did, and the finale is two men shouting about free will while the set designer goes wild. It’s a lot. Before that, Devil’s Advocate is a pretty fun legal thriller with a wicked premise and a Keanu Reeves Southern accent that comes and goes like bad cell service. Charlize Theron is the best thing in it by a mile, playing a wife getting lonelier in a giant apartment until it turns scary, and she makes the creepy parts land. Pacino chews every scene down to the studs, which is the entire point and also the problem. At 144 minutes it could lose most of the middle, which is basically Kevin working late. A 6.3 because it’s a great idea wearing a costume that’s too big for it. $2,326 says the next time an app updates its terms, you actually read them, all of them, for once in your life.
What works: Charlize Theron’s performance, the creepy luxury apartment, and Al Pacino having the time of his life.
What doesn’t: At 144 minutes it drags through the middle, Keanu’s accent wanders, and the shouting finale goes way over the top.
Who it’s for: People who like legal thrillers with a supernatural streak and don’t mind a lot of scenery chewing.
Spoilers
Milton turns out to be Kevin’s father and wants him to have a child with Christabella. Kevin refuses in the most drastic way he can and wakes up back in the Florida courthouse from the opening scene, where he walks away from the case, only for Milton to show up again wearing a reporter’s face.
Kevin Lomax (Keanu Reeves) is a Florida defense attorney who has never lost a case, even the ones he probably should have. A huge New York law firm notices his record, and its charming, impossibly rich boss John Milton (Al Pacino) offers him a dream job. Kevin and his wife Mary Ann (Charlize Theron) move into a luxury Manhattan apartment, and soon he is defending a billionaire, Alexander Cullen (Craig T. Nelson), in a murder trial. Kevin works around the clock. Mary Ann, alone in the apartment, starts seeing things she can't explain. Taylor Hackford directs. One hundred forty-four minutes, read the fine print.
Anyone who reads contracts before signing them. All the way to the end.
| Keanu Reeves | Kevin Lomax |
| Al Pacino | John Milton |
| Charlize Theron | Mary Ann Lomax |
| Jeffrey Jones | Eddie Barzoon |
| Judith Ivey | Mrs. Lomax |
| Connie Nielsen | Christabella |
| Craig T. Nelson | Alexander Cullen |
| Tamara Tunie | Jackie Heath |
| Ruben Santiago-Hudson | Leamon Heath |
| Debra Monk | Pam Garrety |
| Vyto Ruginis | Weaver |
| Laura Harrington | Melissa Black |
| Pamela Gray | Diana Barzoon |
| Heather Matarazzo | Barbara |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +480 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $152.9M; Domestic box office $60.9M; Opening weekend $12.2M; Profit / loss (est.) -$9M; Rotten Tomatoes 65%; CinemaScore B; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 65% (66 reviews); Metacritic 60 / 100; CinemaScore B; IMDb users 7.5 / 10 (453,845 votes); movie.guru score 6.1.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.