Off Script: The Devil's Advocate

Film: The Devil’s Advocate
Format: DVD from Lasalle Public Library through interlibrary loan on laptop.

I went into The Devil’s Advocate having seen it before, but not really remembering a lot beyond the basic plot and the fact that it starred Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino. I had forgotten or never realized that Charlize Theron, Tamara Tunie, Jeffrey Jones, and Craig T. Nelson were in this as well. The plot is one that, upon hearing it, I wondered why it hadn’t been done this fully before, or at least done to this extent. Put simply, a lawyer discovers that the guy he is working for is literally Satan. This is a big reveal at the end of the film, but I honestly don’t feel bad putting that in the opening paragraph here. First of all, the movie is called The Devil’s Advocate, and second, if you don’t realize this pretty quickly, you’re not really paying attention to the movie.

Kevin Lomax (Keanu Reeves) is a high-priced criminal lawyer currently working a case where a middle school teacher has been accused of sexual abuse of one of his students. While the young girl is on the stand giving testimony, Kevin notices his client more or less jerking off, and in this moment, he realizes that the man he is defending is guilty. He asks for a short recess and retreats to the bathroom, where we learn that this might well be the first case that he ever loses. But no, despite the horror of his client and the clear guilt, Kevin goes back into the courtroom and gets the man cleared of charges. He’s just that good.

Everybody Loves Raymond

Films: Ray
Format: DVD from personal collection on rockin’ flatscreen.

A couple of years ago, a Half-Price Books near where I work had a massive sale. If you wanted to take part in the sale, you bought a bag for $35 and anything you could fit in the bag was yours. I walked out with more than 50 DVDs. One of those was the two-disc set of Ray, since I knew it was a movie I’d watch eventually. I was mostly daunted by the length, since Ray is a little more than 150 minutes long. I like Ray Charles as much or more than the next person, but that’s a pretty serious commitment.

Ray is a straightforward biopic of Raymond Charles Robinson, better known to the world as Ray Charles. While there are a few moments of something like magical realism, Ray appears to be a true biography of the man without removing the warts. Ray Charles (played in the film by Jamie Foxx) was a unique musical presence, a man who revolutionized a great deal of music and a true innovator. He was also a man who had a number of children outside of his marriages and who was a heroin addict for a very long time. All of this is included in the movie, and that inclusion is important.

Up Where We Belong

Film: An Officer and a Gentleman
Format: Streaming video from NetFlix on laptop.

I’m sure a lot of people have a different takeaway from An Officer and a Gentleman than I do. Some might come away thinking that Richard Gere was a sexy beast in the early part of his career or that Debra Winger had a great start to her career. Some might even come away thinking that there’s something special about power ballads from the 1980s. For me, An Officer and a Gentleman is all about Lou Gossett Jr.

The story here is pure Hollywood. Zack Mayo (Richard Gere) is the unwanted son of a Navy man stationed in the Philippines with a mother who has committed suicide. Zack grows up with virtually no contact from his father (Robert Loggia) and graduates from college almost to spite the old man. And then to truly spite him, he signs up to be a Navy pilot, wanting something more than his father’s life on a ship punctuated with nights of sex with Filipino prostitutes.