The Devil's Advocate · reception & legacy

How The Devil's Advocate has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

A modest hit with mixed reviews in 1997 — critics shrugged at the pulp and rolled their eyes at Keanu's Southern accent — it's since become a beloved late-90s rewatchable, treasured precisely for its excess, with Pacino's performance reappraised as gloriously, knowingly over the top.

What's debated

The eternal split: is Pacino's scenery-devouring turn a masterclass in ham or just ham — and is Keanu's wobbly Florida drawl a flaw or part of the charm?

Its footprint

Pacino's closing-stretch monologue — 'God is an absentee landlord' and the parting 'Vanity... definitely my favorite sin' — is endlessly quoted and clipped, a go-to reference for peak shouty-era Pacino.

Where it stands

A cult favorite of the 90s-thriller revival crowd — the 'trashy but transcendent' pick that Letterboxd reviewers gleefully five-star with a wink.