I recently saw a movie called, "The Devil's Advocate." The previews
for this movie seemed unbelievable and sounded very similar to a previous
lawyer-based movie. To my surprised, I came out of the movie with many
questions, arguments, and admittedly, a little fear. I really enjoy a movie that
provokes conversation and arguments about a particular subject that is
controversial or makes a person think how they would react in a particular
situation. The movie revolves around a small-town lawyer from Florida who is
extremely gifted in his ability to win cases, whether his clients were guilty or
not. For example, at the beginning of the movie he was defending a person who
was wrongly accused of such a horrible crime. He truly believed that his client
was innocent because of his position as a well-respected teacher in the
community. During the trial he noticed that his client was really enjoying
himself and was aroused by her accusations and testimony. At this point he had
to make a moral decision that only he could make. Should he continue to
represent his client, even though he strongly believed that he was guilty of
this crime? He appeared to have a personal struggle with this question, but in
the end he decided to defend his client and actually won the case, ultimately
keeping his perfect record, but also cheating the abused child who was unfairly
molested by this man. He was then offered a great job in New York for a large
law firm and became the new hot shot at the company because of his reputation in
winning cases. This is when the movie gets extremely interesting, and also a
little scary. He and his wife were so surprised and overwhelmed by this new lfie
full of nice things and new friends. This new life was possible because of his
willingness to do anything to win a case. As it turned out, the head of the law
firm was actually the Devil who recruited him because of his disregard for
morals in order to do one thing, and that is to win at all costs. The deception
of the Devil is not recognized by the main character because he is too busy
trying to win cases for the new law firm, which are merely tests that the Devil
has set up for him. His vanity is his ultimate fault. This is always a great
subject of argument and conversation because of people's different views and
sense of morality. I don't agree with his decision to defend the guilty child
molester. I believe it is immoral and especially unfair to the victim who is
hurt by such ascts. The main character was not motivated so muc hby the riches
that his success brought him but, as the Devil later points out, it is his
vanity and fear of losing that destroys him. The most interesting aspect of the
movie comes when the Devil and the lawyer finally confront each other. All of
the choices that the lawyer makes, good or bad, are of his own free will. He had
willingly chosen to defend a guilty man. Every individual has free will in
choosing to do good or evil. The devil didn't make him do it. His own selfish
needs and wants drove him to his own fate. We are constantly confronted with
such choices every single day, every single second. The movie was gruesome in it
s portrayal of the evils of such an immoral profession, but the basic principles
of individual morality and how it ultimately affects our society as a whole was
a major success. I think that if people would just stop to think of how their
personal decisions and actions will affect not only themselves but others around
them that our society would be less likely to include such plain and suffering.