The Devil's Advocate
The Devil's Advocate (marketed as Devil's Advocate) is a 1997 American supernatural horror film directed by Taylor Hackford, written by Jonathan Lemkin and Tony Gilroy, and starring Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, and Charlize Theron. Based on Andrew Neiderman's 1990 novel of the same name, it is about a gifted young Florida lawyer invited to work for a major New York City law firm. As his wife becomes haunted by frightening visions, the lawyer slowly realizes the firm's owner, John Milton, is in fact, the Devil. The name John Milton is one of several allusions to Paradise Lost, as well as Dante Alighieri's Inferno, and the legend of Faust. An adaptation of Neiderman's novel went into a development hell during the 1990s, with Hackford gaining control of the production. Filming took place around New York City and Florida. The Devil's Advocate received mixed reviews, with critics crediting it for entertainment value and Pacino's performance. It grossed $153 million at the box office and won the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film. It also became the subject of the copyright lawsuit Hart v. Warner Bros., Inc. for its visual art.
Look, kid, maybe down in Florida you are the next big thing. This is New York. We're not squeezing oranges here. He polishes those shoes every night. He makes his own clothes. He looks like a brother with an attitude, but I see a man with a gun under his bed. And woe betide the creature who steps into his garden. Number 6... your favorite... she's damaged goods. She's a Catholic schoolteacher, hmm? Believes in human frailty... No. Something's missing from her. She's wrong. She wants on this jury. Somebody hurt her and she wants revenge.
The Devil's Advocate