KEANU REEVES and AL PACINO star in a drama directed by TAYLOR HACKFORD about
the eternal struggle between power and weakness, between temptation and
surrender, between good and limitless evil.
* * *
 Kevin Lomax (Reeves) is a success in the courtroom and out of it. He's a
young Florida defense attorney who's never lost a case. No matter how
repugnant the crime, no matter how guilty the defendant, Kevin Lomax has the
power to mesmerize the jury into accepting his arguments, buying into his
logic, being convinced by his charisma -- and freeing his clients.
Lomax enjoys a happy marriage with his sexy young wife, Mary Ann (CHARLIZE
THERON), and even has a good relationship with his straitlaced, churchgoing
mother (JUDITH IVEY), despite her pursed lips over his
small-town-boy-makes-good lifestyle. In fact, things seem just about perfect
for Kevin -- nearly Heaven on Earth.
But not exactly.
One day Lomax is in court defending an alleged child molester. In order to
win his case he has to break down the victim's composure just enough to make
the jury wonder if a teenage girl might have lied about her teacher's slimy
advances. And win Lomax does -- despite his own awareness that his client is
guilty as sin.
Soon after, Lomax receives a visitor -- an urbane New York attorney (RUBEN
SANTIAGO-HUDSON) who explains that his powerful law firm has become aware of
the Florida hotshot's acquittal record and would like to meet with him
personally -- at their very lavish expense.
Over the urgent objections of Lomax's mother, who asserts that New York City
is the world's nexus of sin, Kevin and Mary Ann head for the Big Apple and a
look at the astounding luxury that life in the big city can offer the
fortunate.
And Kevin Lomax meets John Milton (Pacino), the man who has summoned him in
this extraordinary fashion.
Milton, an earthy, brilliant and charismatic man, is the founder and head of
Milton, Chadwick, Waters, a powerful, mysterious law firm with interests and
clients all over the world. He's been watching Lomax and he wants him at the
firm. He can make Kevin a very enticing offer, he says -- a home, a salary, a
position in life that no one else can top.
 Lomax, dazzled by the gorgeous apartment he's shown, the beautiful women and
powerful men at Milton's parties, and the brilliant, accomplished partners in
Milton's firm, grabs the brass ring. He and Mary Ann move into their elegant
new home and begin a new life.
But as Lomax tastes the power of being a wealthy New York attorney, something
in him changes. Winning is no longer just a goal -- it becomes an obsession.
When Mary Ann starts telling her husband that the other partners' wives are not
what they appear, that their life is not a good as it seems, that she's having
frightening experiences she can't explain, he comforts her brusquely and
ignores what she's saying.
And when Milton's interest in him seems inexplicably generous, Lomax decides
not to question it. So by the time he finds himself defending a wealthy
real-estate developer (CRAIG T. NELSON) who's accused of three brutal murders,
Kevin Lomax is thrilled by the challenge, not frightened by his growing belief
that his client is guilty of an even bigger crime.
 Then Eddie Barzoon (JEFFREY JONES), the firm's managing partner, dies a
sudden, horrible death. Mary Ann's terrified perceptions pull her away from
sanity. Another law partner, the beautiful Christabella (CONNIE NIELSON),
teases Lomax so seductively he can hardly think.
Kevin's mother comes to New York and warns him that the situation has gone too
far and there are certain things he needs to know. And through it all, John
Milton keeps reminding his protégé that life is rich with
possibilities for those who are unafraid to sample them. But Kevin is
beginning to be afraid.
Lomax's existence in Heaven on Earth has ended. Now he's stepping into Hell.
And standing at the gates to welcome him is John Milton.
"The Devil's Advocate" is produced by ARNON MILCHAN, ARNOLD KOPELSON and ANNE
KOPELSON. TAYLOR HACKFORD, MICHAEL TADROSS, ERWIN STOFF, BARRY BERNARDI and
STEVE WHITE executive produce; and STEPHEN BROWN is the co-producer. The film
has a screenplay by JONATHAN LEMKIN and TONY GILROY, based on the novel by
ANDREW NIEDERMAN. Warner Bros will distribute "The Devil's Advocate"
worldwide.
About the Production....
 The premise of "The Devil's Advocate" excited director Taylor Hackford and
struck him as both pertinent and entertaining.
"The courtroom has become the gladiator's arena of the late 20th
century," he says. "Following the progress of a sensational trial is a
spectator sport; you're watching something that's part melodrama, part
vaudeville and part cold-blooded calculation. And now that audiences have seen
televised trials, they realize that morality and justice have very little to do
with the outcomes. The winners are the lawyers who will stop at nothing. I
thought it would be interesting to put that behavior into a larger context of
right and wrong.
"I was also interested in the way that competing and winning have become such
core values in our culture that we lose sight of the place where some other
concern should intervene. I wanted to examine a character who's been rewarded
all his life for being a winner, so he's never stepped back to say that winning
may not always be the best thing. We often fail to do that until things go
wrong -- we don't know how to anticipate that we're about to take matters too
far."
"'The Devil's Advocate' is a story about some characteristically American
values: ambition, drive, materialism," says producer Arnold Kopelson. "Going
after success and its trappings is a classic American male behavior, and Kevin
Lomax shows us what can happen when that behavior gets out of hand.
"Anyone truly caught up in modern society and in running after public success
will have done things for their ambition; they will have sacrificed some of
their human quotient. The things you run after, the things that you attain all
have prices, and they all impact on other elements of your life," agrees
producer Arnon Milchan. "It's wonderful and dramatic to look at our lives in
terms of right and wrong, to see how close to making a Faustian bargain we have
come."
Hackford joined the production after reading the early version of the film's
script, written by Jonathan Lemkin. "I liked the premise that Jonathan set up
and the events in the story, but there were certain aspects of it that I wanted
to develop even further," he recalls.
Hackford brought in writer Tony Gilroy, with whom he had worked on his most
recent film, the critically lauded "Dolores Claiborne." Gilroy and Hackford
discussed the project and decided to expand on the tantalizing nature of evil
in contemporary life at the millenium.
"The people in this story who get into trouble are people who have made
certain choices," explains Hackford. "Tony and I don't believe in blaming the
Devil for these terrible events; when people have the opportunity to exercise
their free will, they choose to damn themselves nine times out of 10. We
wanted to show that you make your own choices in life -- the Devil is merely
the impulse inside of us to choose what we know is ethically wrong. It's not
some guy with a forked tail -- we ourselves are responsible."
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