The Devil's Advocate (1997)

A movie that has always intrigued me since it's release was 1997's The Devil's Advocate and I have no idea why it took me 23 years to watch the film. Nevertheless, I needed something to watch for today and Netflix happened to have the film so I chose it for today. The film stars Keanu Reeves (Toy Story 4) as hot shot young Florida defense attorney Kevin Lomax who has an unbelievable track record in Florida as he has never lost a case in his life. That kind of record garners some attention from the big Apple as Kevin is offered a very well paying job to be the new defense attorney at a high law firm with a high end boss. The only problem is that things may not appear to be what they are as Kevin takes the job and it could cost him everything. The film also stars Al Pacino (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood) as John Milton, Charlize Theron (Mad Max Fury Road) as Mary Ann Lomax,  Jeffrey Jones (Mom and Dad Save The World) as Eddie Barzoon, Judith Ivey (Flags Of Our Fathers) as Alice Lomax, Connie Nielsen (The Hunted) as Christabella Andreoli, Craig T. Nelson (The Family Stone) as Alexander Cullen, Tamara Tunie (As The World Turns) as Mrs. Jackie Heath, Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Shaft) as Leamon Heath, Debra Monk (This Is Where I Leave You) as Pam Garrety, George Wyner (Spaceballs) as Meisel, and the film was directed by Taylor Hackford (Ray).

One of the things that hit me really hard for some reason was the scene when Keanu was struggling to get into Charlize's room at the hospital and she cuts her own throat. For some reason and I don't know why, but it just shocked me and made me sad. If you think about it for a minute, they did their job and that is what was great about this film is that it was the total package. The story was so well written that it had me intrigued from the minute it started to the minute it ended. The twist at the end got me really good because I thought the film was over before that happened and I was like where the hell can they go from here? Let me tell you when you see it, they do not disappoint. The other thing that was great about the film was the strength of the performances which was knocked out of the park by Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino who made a great on screen duo in this film. Then there is everyone else that starred int he film that did an amazing job like Charlize Theron who played the right kind of crazy and even Debra Monk as well. This was an excellent film and I can not believe that it took me this long to watch it. Some of the effects were a little cheesy in some parts, but overall it wasn't that bad. That is why I am going to go ahead and give the film an A for a final grade.

The Hunted (2003)

William Friedkin (The French Connection) is a director who has quite the impressive list of films that he has directed over the course of career like the aforementioned film next to his name and others like The Exorcist, Killer Joe, To Live And Die In LA, and so many more.  I was cruising through the Tubi app when I came across one of his films and I decided to check it out for today in 2003's The Hunted. The film stars Benicio Del Toro (Guardians Of The Galaxy) as Aaron Hallam, a soldier who was trained by the very best to be the best damn solider assassin that the US Government could have. The only problem is what happens when that trained weapon begins to take his mission a little too far and into everyday life? I guess that's when you hire the guy (Tommy Lee Jones) who made him who he is to hunt him down before he claims anymore lives. The film also stars Connie Nielsen (One Hour Photo) as Abby Durrell, Leslie Stefanson (As Good As It Gets) as Irene Kravitz, John Finn (Catch Me If You Can) as Ted Chenoweth, José Zúñiga (The Dark Tower) as Bobby Moret, Ron Canada (Wedding Crashers) as Harry Van Zandt, Mark Pellegrino (The Big Lebowski) as Dale Hewitt, and Jenna Boyd (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) as Loretta Kravitz.

I was honestly expecting a lot more from this film then what we actually got and I think what I mean is that I thought it would be a lot better and more action packed then it was. There is action in the film, but it's nothing exciting like Taken or Rambo. I honestly thought that with the caliber of films that Benicio has been in that he was going to be the star of the film, but it was actually Tommy Lee Jones who stole the show for me. Benicio looked like he was trying to figure out what kind of a super soldier he was like should I be the strong silent type, the wacky I am obviously mentally unstable type, etc. Meanwhile, Tommy Lee Jones is stealing the show and you are literally rooting for the master to defeat the student cause he's proven that he screwed up with Benicio's character and he has to put him down himself. The final fight scene between the two of them had this really long build up of a giant chase through the city scene and then it went into a Rocky like montage of them getting their weapons ready for the final showdown. Then you proceed to the final showdown and it actually doesn't disappoint you as much as I thought it would. Tommy Lee Jones whoops his ass and all is returned back to normal and he can now live his life with no regrets because he killed the worlds best assassin. Some of the dialogue and acting was just bad in this film at times, but it wasn't bad enough that you dreaded watching, it was just a couple of moments here and there. The cinematography could be the saving grace of this film, but not enough to escape it's C+ grade.