27: The Devil's Advocate

Mission Valley

Raleigh, North Carolina

October,1997

I love Al Pacino.  I love Keanu Reaves. I love Charlize Theron. I even love Heather Matarazzo-a popular indie actress.  But in no way, shape or form did I enjoy this movie about the Devil being an attorney in New York City.

I didn't know the expression It is what it is when I was young and sweet and southern.  The movie was well written and well acted-but I didn't like it. It was evil. Al Pacino was evil and Keanu kept falling for his temptations.  In the mean time, his wife is seeing everything for what it really is and no one is listening to her. Ugh.

What a perfect little memory for Lent and temptations by the Devil.  I wanted to leave the theater. I had never left a theater ever, but I wanted to leave this one. I didn't because on general principle, if I go to a movie I want to watch the entire movie to give it the benefit of the doubt. Like I said, it was good for what it was, but it wasn't for me. I didn't like it from beginning, middle, or end.

As we were leaving, a woman and I were standing outside the men's room.  We stared at each other for about a minute-that's a long time in movie theater lobby time.  Finally, she cocked her head and said, "I hated that."

I looked right back at her and said, "I hated that too."  Female bonding outside the men's room rocks.

It happens, you are going to hate a movie-but watch it from beginning to end so you can honestly say it.

The only thing that made it awesome was Monday morning at school I was talking to a conservative teacher who had gone to see the Devil's Own and I got confused. I started asking her about different scenes from the Devil movie and her face just got paler and paler.....oops.  Only Page gets into conversations like that.

I had to go rent Scent of a Woman and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure to scrub the Devil out of my head.  And to this day, I have never left a movie theater early. Fallen asleep yes, left no.

 that would be a sin...