{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"The Devil's Advocate (1997) TEASER","description":" Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! $5 pledge gets you bonus episodes and $20 enters you in our monthly handmade DVD mailing program "Bootleg Bible Study"!   http:\/\/patreon.com\/boysbiblestudy Perhaps the best of the 1990s films fixated on pop Christian themes (that we affectionately call \u201cangelslop\u201d or, if more appropriate: \u201cdevilslop\u201d), THE DEVIL\u2019S ADVOCATE is a wildly entertaining film that despite being firmly secular, manages to hit a ton of tropes we associate with the Christian film genre. Keanu Reeves stars as Kevin Lomax, a small town defense lawyer with an impressive undefeated winning streak. He\u2019s scouted by Al Pacino as John Milton, the head of an acclaimed New York City law firm, who wants to change Lomax\u2019s life by adding him to the roster. Eagle-eared viewers may recognize the name John Milton as a reference to the author of legendary Bible fanfiction Paradise Lost. This might be your first indication that Pacino\u2019s character is the devil himself, that Reeves\u2019s character is about to make a Faustian bargain, and that the legal system is about to be used as an allegory for Christian morality. This is the most 1990s trope imaginable, an era when filmmakers were obsessed with elevating the mundane by showing it as a backdrop between the battle between angels and demons. Another distinctly 1990s decadence is needing the movie to be \u201csmart, sexy, funny\u201d \u2014 when THE DEVIL\u2019S ADVOCATE does rarely jump the shark into groan-inducing campiness, it\u2019s when the film attempts to flatter the viewer\u2019s sense of sophistication. However it\u2019s still a welcome nostalgic departure from mainstream movies nowadays that openly market themselves as slop from a trough for the lowest bidder. But it\u2019s the smart writing and impressive production design that makes THE DEVIL\u2019S ADVOCATE\u2019s heavy handed tropes and conservative morality feel delightfully predictable instead of tediously formulaic. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http:\/\/boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http:\/\/patreon.com\/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http:\/\/instagram.com\/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http:\/\/twitter.com\/boysbiblestudy ","author_name":"Boys' Bible Study","author_url":"http:\/\/boysbiblestudy.com","html":"