Al Pacino In The Devil’s Advocate
The next two entries are sort of one-in-the-same. What it means is, in both cases, it is the actor playing a caricature of himself as the devil. Though that may sound awful, it works, and I will tell you why. Because they are both brilliant and bat-shit insane actors who inject every inch of themselves into every role and often give us mesmerizing performances as a result of that.
Pacino as Satan in The Devil’s Advocate is a perfect example of that. It is Pacino on ten, and yet, it works. Think of what would happen if Tony Montana became the Devil and you have a decent idea of what to expect here.
What is great about Pacino’s Satan though is that he is sort of understated through the first half of the film. He is charming and obviously pulling some strings, but he is not frothing at the mouth and smiting people left and right. But as his true motives become clear over the course of the movie, the Tony Montana side of the devil starts peeking through more and more, ending with one of the greatest “Satan” finales ever put on film. I mean, that speech? It’s so amazing that it almost makes you side with the devil himself: