The Devil's Advocate Deeper Meaning

So, I examined the Devil's Advocate last night, eyeing for the deeper meaning behind the film. I have seen this movie a number of times, although the last time I watched was a while ago. Because I viewed this movie with a different point of view, I enjoyed this more than before. 

The Devil's Advocate is not a perfect movie by any means. Critics have scolded it due to its tediousness, miscast main character and cop-out ending. I vehemently concur with all of those assessments. The movie does take a long time to shift into a more enthralling gear. Keanu Reeves has the charisma and believability of a block of wood – and the ending does render the moot as well as causes everything that happened before to become essentially meaningless. 

Despite its imperfections, there are lots of things to like about this movie. Al Pacino, who is disputably the greatest actor ever, does a compelling job in his antagonist role as the supernatural pioneer of the purity of evil, and the movie does an adequate job expressing its message.

Kevin Lomax, played by Keanu Reeves, is one of the best attorneys in the world. He manages to find a way to make his clients innocent in the court of law, no matter how guilty they are. Lomax is a deceitful and unlawful person, but he claims that his dishonesties are a part of his occupational description. It is transparent that he is subconscious about his decisions. However, the more he lies, the more money he receives and the more famous he becomes – and that causes his vanity and self-worth to become more important to him than his morality.

His life vicissitudes when he meets his new boss John Milton (Al Pacino). Lomax’s mother encourages him to leave New York City, because she believes NYC is the dwelling place of demons. Milton urges Lomax to stay and causes him by making him an offer he cannot refuse. It is discovered later on that Milton is more than just an evil person. He is Santon, the epitome of all evil, and is trying to use Lomax, his bastard child, to mate with his half-sister to create a demon baby.

Before I spoil anything else or become too wordy, I will cut to the chase. The movie's theme is about temptation and vanity. All Lomax’s clients are the scum of the earth, which means nobody with a conscious mind would ever defend these sadistic people. Conversely, they would likely want to see them receive the comeuppance that they deserve. However, power, fame and money have the power to persuade nearly anyone into making decisions that they know are erroneous and deceitful. 

Vanity and temptation have motivated people to do unethical things to gain power and control and to protect their reputation and self-worth, regardless of how sadistic or wrongdoing it was. Many politicians, actors and other celebrities’ actions are solely done for their image. Most of them have also sold their souls to the Devil (per se) to gain money, fame and power by taking an easy, albeit unethical, passageway.

 In essence, the Devil's Advocate exhibits how far one man will go to become rich, famous and powerful.