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Devil’s Advocate 69
Jabez Stone, sells his soul to the Devil in exchange
for seven years of prosperity. However, when the
time comes due for Jabez to relinquish his soul, he
becomes frightened and hires the famous lawyer
Daniel Webster to get him out of the contract—an
interesting American twist on the Faust legend.
Mr. Scratch, the representative for the Devil,
agrees to litigate on the condition that he be
allowed to choose every jury member, whom he
recruits from the worst of the underworld’s
sinners, and whom he assumes will decide against
the farmer. Instead, Webster makes such a superb
defense that the jurors feel much remorse for their
own bad deeds, and they vote not to condemn
Jabez to his horrific fate. Mr. Scratch leaves the
farmer to his good life, as taking him could
threaten the stability of hell with a mass exodus.
—Evelyn Oliver
The Devil and Max Devlin
A 1981 Disney Studios comedy about an obnoxious
slumlord, Max Devlin, who is killed by a bus
and sent to hell. The Devil tells him that if he can
get three souls to exchange for his, Max can get out
of hell. After a great deal of trouble finding three
replacements, Max has a change of heart and does
not want to harm the innocent persons. As a
surprise result he gets out of hell because of his
goodness. Max Devlin is played by Elliot Gould
and the Devil by Bill Cosby.
Devil’s Advocate
In the 1997 film Devil’s Advocate, Al Pacino brilliantly
portrays John Milton (named after the
Puritan author of the classic Paradise Lost), the
human incarnation of Lucifer. The film begins
with the Devil hiring hotshot criminal attorney,
Kevin Lomax (Keanu Reeves) to work for his
Satanic law firm in New York (though Kevin does
not suspect a diabolical connection). Satan wants
to bring together his family, but can only do so by
destroying Kevin’s loving wife and seductively
manipulating him into uniting with his gorgeous,
red-headed colleague—who Kevin later discovers
to be his own sister. When Kevin learns that
Milton is his long lost father who wants him to
The Devil’s Advocate (1997) (Kobol Collection/Warner
Brothers/Monarchy)
procreate through his sister, Kevin opts out by
shooting himself in the head in front of his father.
Lucifer’s shock and pain over the loss of his son
causes him to burst into screams of rage that
engulf the entire scene in billowing smoke and
flames. This appears to be the movie’s dramatically
appropriate conclusion. However, the narrative
unexpectedly continues when, instead of
dying, Kevin finds himself transported back to the
beginning of the story where he is defending his
perverted client from the charge of molesting
innocent young students. Kevin, finding that his
wife is miraculously still alive, knows he is being
given a second chance to do the right thing, which
he does by refusing to defend his client (who he
knows is guilty). The reporter who previously
challenged Kevin now seems to be his admiring
supporter, complimenting Kevin on sticking to
principle even in the face of potential disbarment.
As the couple exits the courthouse, Kevin agrees to
the reporter’s request to interview him for a
feature article on his courageous decision. In the
last scene of the movie, the reporter morphs into