Best Horror Film according to the prestigious Saturn Award, a film that clearly shows human vices. How did Taylor Hackford bring the mystery drama The Devil’s Advocate (1997) to life so well? What is the meaning of the picture, which inspires fear and horror in the audience?
What is The Devil’s Advocate about?
Kevin Lomax is a young and successful lawyer who represents the position of a teacher in court. Getis is suspected of harassing schoolgirls. Initially, Kevin was completely sure that his client was the victim of a slander. However, during the trial, the young lawyer realizes that the teacher Getis is a real criminal.
But Lomax is not used to losing. With the help of his methods, the lawyer managed to convince the jurors of the innocence of Getis. Kevin built a line of defense in such a way that all listeners believed that the vicious student slandered her teacher because of personal hostility.
As a result, Getis was acquitted, and the young lawyer was noticed in a prosperous legal corporation. The John Milton Company defends and represents the interests of millionaires in court. Successful counseling by Kevin Lomax helped get the burglar acquitted, even though all the evidence was against him. After that, the lawyer was offered a permanent job in the corporation. Together with his wife Mary-Anne, Kevin changes his place of residence and goes to New York.
Luxurious apartments, huge salary and interesting work. The young lawyer turned his head to incredible luck. Kevin began to pay attention to the company manager Christabella Andreoli. The girl also liked the promising Lomax.
Kevin’s fast-paced career, his wife’s health problems, intrigues and gossip at work. Kevin has to protect Cullen, who is suspected of killing three people. Mary Ann falls into a deep depression after the news of her infertility. A series of incredible and frightening events makes the lawyer think about the correctness of his chosen path. After Kevin’s mother revealed a terrible secret to him, the hero reconsidered his priorities. Who is really the Devil? The lawyer could not survive the shocks that fell on him and commits suicide.
Again, a native provincial town, a lawsuit in the case of a teacher. Only now Kevin refuses to defend the accused. Realizing that such an act will negatively affect his entire future career, the position of the lawyer is adamant.
The Meaning of “Devil’s Advocate”
The main idea of the film “The Devil’s Advocate” is the eternal confrontation between good and evil. The hero is faced with a choice: a successful career in a not entirely honest way or strict adherence to the letter of the law. Fame and a lot of money or inconspicuous activity for little reward. Will the hero choose according to his conscience?
In addition, the film presents another problem of choice: career or family. The wife of the protagonist left everything in her hometown and moved after her husband to New York. She sacrificed her professional activities for the sake of the successful career of her chosen one. And what did Mary Ann get in the end? Her husband, thinking that he has caught the bird of happiness by the tail, spends a lot of time at work. Huge money and a luxurious life attract a young lawyer. Soon he began to stare at other girls, giving them signs of attention.
The hero’s wife, unable to withstand the tests that fell on her, lost her mind and ended up in a psychiatric clinic. Mary Ann is an innocent victim of circumstances, she loved her husband too much that she put an end to her career.
The director of the picture shows another common truth: “Vanity is the greatest of sins.” What does the hero end up choosing? He remained true to himself and his principles. The lawyer decided to act according to his conscience. He is not embarrassed that now, most likely, he will have to forget about a successful career. What had to happen happened. Good has conquered evil.
The meaning of the film “Devil’s Advocate” is that a person often faces a choice throughout his life. Sometimes the future completely depends on the further decision. How it will be – successful or not very – depends solely on the person himself. You can only blame yourself for the outcome of events. Therefore, the film teaches to take responsibility for their actions and actions.
The meaning of the Devil’s Advocate ending
The hero remained true to himself. He did what his conscience told him to do. You can blame anyone for your failures in life. You can blame the lack of money, temptation, vanity. But these are only pathetic attempts to justify their lawless actions.
Good has conquered evil. The law has conquered crime. Truth won over lies. Justice has prevailed. Only at what cost. In pursuit of untold wealth, a luxurious life and a dizzying career, a person can sometimes overstep the law. But sooner or later you will have to pay for all your actions. The film is about the fact that everything needs to be achieved with honest and hard work. You can not be on the side of deceit and lawlessness. Having received huge money and fame by criminal means, in the end, a person will still be left with nothing. For all the benefits that have been dishonestly, you will have to sacrifice something. Sometimes the closest and dearest people are at stake.
