THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE
screenplay by
Jonathan Lemkin and Tony Gilroy
based on the novel by
Andrew Neiderman
REVISED SHOOTING DRAFT
January 18, 1997
FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96
FADE IN:
1 INT. FLORIDA COURTROOM - DAY 1
Northern Florida in the midst of a heat wave. Air
conditioners fighting a losing battle. The gallery is
full. The JUDGE a stern, old hand. The PROSECUTOR, an
efficient man with a good case.
The witness is BARBARA. She is maybe 13. She is a
witness in a criminal trial. Her testimony has been
carefully rehearsed.
BARBARA
... we go back to our homeroom for
dismissal, unless you have a pass
for sports or something.
PROSECUTOR (O.S.)
And is that what you did on the
day in question?
BARBARA
No. Mr. Gettys asked me to stay
after class.
PROSECUTOR
What happened next, Barbara?
BARBARA
Mr. Gettys closed the door.
PROSECUTOR
Everyone else had gone?
BARBARA
Yes. He told me to sit in the
chair beside his desk.
MR. GETTYS, the defendant, is 50. The very picture of
respectability. His perfect wife and son staunchly
enduring this testimony.
(CONTINUED)
2.
1 CONTINUED: 1
PROSECUTOR
In your own words, Barbara, can
you tell us exactly what happened
during the next few minutes?
KEVIN LOMAX. Defense counsel. Taking it all in.
BARBARA (O.S.)
I told him I was afraid I would
miss my bus. He promised I would
get to the bus on time if I would
help him to do something...
Kevin -- his eyes -- drifting around the courtroom --
taking inventory -- assessing damage --
BARBARA (O.S.)
... Then he put -- before I could
say anything -- he placed his hand
inside my blouse...
Kevin -- checking the jury and --
BARBARA (O.S.)
... I was so frightened I didn't
move. I thought if I was just
quiet it would be okay...
Kevin -- checking Gettys -- seeing something that stops
him cold --
BARBARA (O.S.)
... Then his other hand went up
under -- inside my skirt...
Gettys' hand -- down below the table -- down where no one
but Kevin could possibly see it -- Getty's fingers subtly
feeling their way along the leg of his chair --
BARBARA (O.S.)
... his hand then, it started, he
started, moving back and forth --
farther and farther inside my
skirt...
Kevin -- glancing around -- nobody else can see it --
BARBARA (O.S.)
... he said he was testing to see
if I had any special feelings,
that he wanted to find out what
kind of feelings I had...
(CONTINUED)
3.
1 CONTINUED: (2) 1
Gettys' hand -- excited now -- stroking the chair leg --
absently -- involuntarily -- unmistakably sexual --
BARBARA (O.S.)
... I didn't know what to say, I
was trying to think of something
to say but I was confused and he
just kept on -- with his hand --
moving it -- under my dress --
higher and higher...
Kevin is rocked. Trying not to show it.
BARBARA (O.S.)
... then I, I was asking him to
stop but it was like he couldn't
hear me -- he just kept on --
Suddenly, Gettys' hand stops moving --
BARBARA (O.S.)
-- and then I screamed...
Kevin looks up to find Gettys' eyes waiting for him.
Gettys quickly returns his hand into his lap. He's been
caught -- watching, as Kevin turns away and --
BARBARA
... then he, he got mad and said
we would have to try again
sometime.
PROSECUTOR
And did he try again?
BARBARA
Not with me.
PROSECUTOR
With friends of yours?
BARBARA
Yes.
PROSECUTOR
And when you told them what he had
done to you, they told you what he
had done to them, isn't that true?
BARBARA
Yes.
PROSECUTOR
I have nothing further.
(CONTINUED)
4.
1 CONTINUED: (3) 1
JUDGE
(finding Kevin)
Your witness, Mr. Lomax.
KEVIN
Any chance, Your Honor, for a
short recess?
CUT TO:
2 INT. FLORIDA COURTHOUSE HALL - DAY 2
Kevin heading quickly away from the courtroom. Gettys
right on his heels.
KEVIN
Lloyd, as your attorney, I'm
advising you to get the fuck away
from me.
GETTYS
Why? What are you talking about?
KEVIN
The wife. The kid. The outrage.
You definitely had me fooled.
GETTYS
You're my lawyer! You're here to
defend me!
KEVIN
You know what I'm thinking? Why
don't we put you on the stand and
you can jerk off for the judge.
GETTYS
You know she's lying.
KEVIN
Get the hell out of my way.
Gettys standing aside, as we --
CUT TO:
3 INT. FLORIDA COURTHOUSE MEN'S ROOM - DAY 3
An ancient upstairs facility. Kevin standing at the
mirror. Frozen there. Identity crisis. Morality
crisis. He takes off his wedding ring. Letting cold
water run in the sink. His eyes never leaving the
mirror.
(CONTINUED)
5.
3 CONTINUED: 3
Behind him, the door opens. A local REPORTER enters,
moves to the urinal.
REPORTER
Well, hell, there you are. Rumor
was you were out wandering in
traffic.
KEVIN
Not now, Larry.
REPORTER
What's the game plan, Kevin? I
got a four-thirty deadline. I
need a quote. Gimme a quote.
KEVIN
Fuck off.
REPORTER
'Mr. Lomax had no comment on
today's events. Speculation,
however, was widespread that the
young lawyer's unblemished string
of victories would come to an end
in this courtroom.'
Kevin pulls some cold water to his face. Startled, as
THUNDER EXPLODES overhead -- then just as suddenly,
becomes nothing more than the urinal flushing...
REPORTER
It was a nice run, Kev. Had to
close out someday. Nobody wins
'em all.
The Reporter exits. Kevin alone with the mirror.
And then it's over.
He's made his decision. Replacing his wedding ring.
Reaching for his jacket, as we --
CUT TO:
4 INT. FLORIDA COURTHOUSE HALLWAY - DAY 4
Kevin walking through. His game face. A court officer
opening the doors and --
CUT TO:
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 6.
5 INT. FLORIDA COURTROOM - DAY 5
Barbara on the stand. Everyone in place.
KEVIN
Math hasn't exactly been your
subject this year, has it?
BARBARA
No.
KEVIN
Any theories on why you've done so
poorly in math this year?
BARBARA
It's not my fault.
KEVIN
Would you say Mr. Gettys is the
problem?
(as she shrugs)
You're not sure. Have you had
any discipline problems in math
class this year?
BARBARA
No.
KEVIN
No? Isn't it true Mr. Gettys has
had to talk to you repeatedly
about your behavior? Isn't that
why he asked you to stay after
class?
BARBARA
No.
KEVIN
Have other teachers ever asked you
to stay after class?
BARBARA
Once or twice.
KEVIN
Did they want to talk about your
behavior?
PROSECUTOR
Objection. Immaterial.
KEVIN
Goes to motive.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 7.
5 CONTINUED: 5
JUDGE
Overruled. You may answer the
question.
BARBARA
I don't know what the other
teachers wanted. You'd have to
talk to them.
KEVIN
You ever pass notes in class,
Barbara? Maybe a note that made
fun of Mr. Gettys?
BARBARA
No.
KEVIN
No? Never called him a
'disgusting pig monster'?
BARBARA
No.
Kevin handing out paperwork.
KEVIN
Your Honor, I've pre-marked this
Defense Exhibit A...
PROSECUTOR
Objection, Your Honor, we've had
plenty of time for discovery here.
The Judge quickly studying his copy of the note.
JUDGE
I'm gonna let this in, Mr. Lomax,
I'm also gonna suggest that if
you have any other exhibits you
present in a timely fashion or not
at all.
KEVIN
(right to
the note)
I'm sorry, Barbara, I was wrong,
it's 'huge hog beast'. This is
your handwriting, isn't it?
BARBARA
Yes, but --
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 8.
5 CONTINUED: (2) 5
KEVIN
You wrote this in his class.
BARBARA
It's a joke.
KEVIN
'He's a huge hog beast. He
probably eats a thousand pancakes
for breakfast.' You're writing
here about Mr. Gettys, aren't you?
BARBARA
It was meant to be a joke.
KEVIN
Have you ever had a party at your
house when your parents were away?
(waiting)
Yes or no?
PROSECUTOR
Objection. This is way out of...
KEVIN
Credibility and bias.
JUDGE
Overruled. Answer the question.
BARBARA
(rattled)
Yes.
KEVIN
The word special came up in your
testimony earlier. You claimed
that Mr. Gettys asked you whether
you had special feelings, if you
felt special.
(beat)
Have you ever heard of a game
called 'Special Places?'
(waiting)
You're under oath, Barbara. A
man's career -- his reputation --
his life is on the line. This is
not a joke. Have you ever played
the game Special Places?
BARBARA
Yes.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 9.
5 CONTINUED: (3) 5
KEVIN
Is this game sexual in nature?
(waiting)
Is this game sexual in nature?
BARBARA
We only played it once.
KEVIN
This special party, Barbara, this
was the first time you told the
story about Mr. Gettys.
BARBARA
Yes.
KEVIN
I've spoken to the other children
who were there that day. Can you
think of anything else, Barbara,
they might have told me about that
party?
PROSECUTOR
Objection. Your Honor, if he has
other witnesses let him call them.
KEVIN
(right at Barbara)
If I need to call those other
children, I will.
JUDGE
I'm gonna sustain that, Mr. Lomax.
Rephrase your question.
KEVIN
You threatened those children,
didn't you?
BARBARA
That's not the way it happened --
KEVIN
You told them to falsely claim
that Mr. Gettys had hurt them,
didn't you?
BARBARA
These things did happen!
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 9A.
5 CONTINUED: (3A) 5
KEVIN
Because if they didn't go along
you were going to tell everyone
about this special party.
BARBARA
They happened to me.
KEVIN
So you made up a story. A
special story, about a math
teacher -- a disgusting pig
monster -- you didn't like.
That's what really happened,
isn't it?
BARBARA
I didn't want to be the only one!
BARBARA'S FATHER can take it no longer -- suddenly on his
feet -- charging --
BARBARA'S FATHER
You son of a bitch!
The bailiff making a diving grab --
KEVIN
I have no further questions, Your
Honor.
Chaos -- court officers struggling with Barbara's Father
and people yelling and Gettys hugging his wife and son
and the gavel banging like mad and Kevin just sitting
there, staring at the floor, completely drained,
emotionally, morally, physically and --
In the back of the room, a man. He's black. Elegant.
Amused by the scene. His name is LEAMON HEATH.
MARY ANN LOMAX leans in behind her husband. She is a
doll. We love her.
(CONTINUED)
10.
5 CONTINUED: (4) 5
MARY ANN
Pack it up, baby. You need a
drink.
CUT TO:
6 INT. FLORIDA NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT 6
It's a rock and roll joint. Florida style. But it's
early and empty. Kevin at the bar with Mary Ann, two
LAWYER friends, the Reporter and someone's girl friend.
12 shot glasses, two rows of six. A perfect tequila pour
and --
LAWYER #1 (O.S.)
In the event we all get drunk and
forget, I suggest we frontload the
ceremonial bullshit...
(a toast)
To the best damn trial lawyer in
Alachua County.
Kevin, subdued, watches the rest of them drink.
REPORTER
So, Kev, off the record, how's it
feel to squeeze a man like Gettys
through the door of reasonable
doubt?
MARY ANN
No.
(waving him off)
I told you already, we're not
gonna discuss that damn case
anymore. Done.
(to Kevin)
Am I right?
KEVIN
I'll drink to that.
(as he does)
No shop talk.
CUT TO:
7 MONTAGE 7
Tequila pours. As the night goes on.
CUT TO:
11.
8 INT. FLORIDA NIGHTCLUB - MEN'S ROOM - NIGHT 8
Drunk frat boys laughing as they exit. A BAR BAND in the
distance. Kevin done pissing. Moving for the sink, when
he suddenly stops. Freezes. A mirror above the sink.
There he is. The guy that set Gettys free.
HEATH (O.S.)
Mr. Lomax?
Kevin turns -- Leamon Heath standing beside him.
HEATH
Helluva job today.
(quickly presenting
his card)
I didn't want to disturb your
party.
KEVIN
Milton, Chadwick, Waters. Never
heard of it.
(looking up)
What're you gonna do? Sue me?
HEATH
Actually, we were hoping to retain
your services. We've been
following your progress.
KEVIN
From New York.
HEATH
You've never lost a case.
KEVIN
I've had some sympathetic juries.
HEATH
That's exactly what we're looking
for. We want you to come to New
York. Help us pick a jury.
KEVIN
Really.
(amused now)
I'll tell you, man. You're pretty
damn good. And the card is great.
And the black thing -- you being
black -- whose idea was that?
Paul's? 'Cause that's just
brilliant.
(as he's walking)
I'm just not drunk enough yet to
fall for it.
(CONTINUED)
12.
8 CONTINUED: 8
HEATH
You'd have to start next week.
(waiting as Kevin
stops there)
All expenses. First class travel
and lodging. You and your wife.
A lump sum payment, regardless of
verdict in the amount of, well...
(in his hand)
Here. Take a look.
Kevin takes the check. Still looking at it, as we --
CUT TO:
9 EXT. FLORIDA CINDERBLOCK CHURCH - DAY 9
Two dozen cars parked. MUSIC and SINGING from inside. A
sign reads:
"SEMINOLE CALVARY CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER"
10 INT. FLORIDA CINDERBLOCK CHURCH - DAY 10
Inside the church. Plain and functional. Poor but
faithful. A trio -- electric guitar, accordion,
tambourine -- playing a hymn. Forty-five voices raised
in song. The tempo is ragged and the pitch shaky, but
the feeling is strong. They mean it.
The CAMERA FINDS -- MRS. LOMAX. Kevin's mother. Forty- six.
Singing her heart out. A woman with faith, in the
presence of her Lord.
The CAMERA FINDS -- Kevin. In the very back. Standing
in the doorway. Halfway in. Halfway out. Shadow.
Light. Waiting.
CUT TO:
11 EXT. FLORIDA CHURCH PARKING LOT - DAY 11
Post-service. Mrs. Lomax and Kevin walking to her car.
KEVIN
It's two weeks at most.
MRS. LOMAX
You've never been to New York.
(CONTINUED)
13.
11 CONTINUED: 11
KEVIN
Every dog gets a day.
MRS. LOMAX
Pick a jury...
(ridiculous)
I feel the hand of Mary Ann on
this adventure.
KEVIN
Mom.
MRS. LOMAX
New York is not a good idea.
KEVIN
Look, how you fixed for cash?
MRS. LOMAX
I have my bad feeling.
KEVIN
(an envelope)
I put a couple hundred in here...
MRS. LOMAX
Sounds like more than two weeks.
KEVIN
Mary Ann typed out the numbers for
you -- phone, the flights -- it's
all in there.
MRS. LOMAX
Let me tell you about New York.
KEVIN
(with a smile)
Babylon.
MRS. LOMAX
Forewarned is forearmed.
(half-serious)
'Fallen, fallen is Babylon the
great. It has become a dwelling
place of demons.' Revelation
Eighteen. Wouldn't hurt you to
look it over.
KEVIN
(rolls with it)
Couldn't forget it if I tried.
(CONTINUED)
14.
11 CONTINUED: (2) 11
MRS. LOMAX
And what happened to Babylon?
KEVIN
'Thou mighty city. In one hour
hast thou mighty judgement come.'
MRS. LOMAX
'And the light of a single lamp
shall shine in thee no more.'
Kevin gathers her in. Kissing her good-bye, as we --
CUT TO:
12 INT. HOTEL SUITE - NIGHT 12
Darkness. Where are we? A door opens in another room --
VOICES -- KEVIN and MARY ANN. They're LAUGHING. Coming
in from a big night out. For an instant -- light -- we
glimpse a great hotel suite -- and then --
KEVIN (O.S.)
-- wait -- leave 'em off --
MARY ANN (O.S.)
-- what are you... I can't --
KEVIN (O.S.)
-- close your eyes -- do it --
More LAUGHTER. Stumbling shadows moving PAST us and --
KEVIN (O.S.)
Okay. Stop.
13 EXT. HOTEL SUITE - BALCONY - NIGHT 13
Kevin behind Mary Ann with his hands over her eyes. He
takes his hands away, but her eyes stay closed...
KEVIN
Okay. Open your eyes.
MARY ANN
(as she does)
Wow.
14 EXT. HOTEL SUITE - BALCONY - NIGHT 14
The view. Wham. The definitive New York skyline.
15.
15 EXT. HOTEL SUITE - BALCONY - NIGHT 15
KEVIN
'Go ahead...'
(in her ear)
'... bite the Big Apple.'
MARY ANN
(she's dancing)
'... Rats on the West Side, bed
bugs uptown, I can't give it away
on Seventh Avenue. This town
don't look good in tatters...'
KEVIN
I don't know... looks to me like
that dress is in your way.
MARY ANN
(shocked, stops)
Why, counselor...
(her best drawl)
Surely you don't think a small-
town girl changes overnight just
because a man buys her dinner in
the big city.
KEVIN
No, ma'am. In fact, I hardly ever
think at all.
MARY ANN
Well, that's different, then.
You're my kind of guy.
Kevin smiles. She's taking off the dress. Babylon.
CUT TO:
16 EXT. FOLEY SQUARE - ESTABLISHING - DAY 16
Six huge courthouses. All those courtrooms.
CUT TO:
17 INT. JURY COURTROOM - DAY 17
Criminal court. Voire dire. Potential jurors fill the
benches. A bored judge. MEISEL, defense counsel, is a
sour, New York veteran. The juror being questioned, a
PIE-FACED MAN with bad vision.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 16.
17 CONTINUED: 17
MEISEL
Do you think as a juror you'd be
able to set aside any prior
opinions you might hold about the
savings and loan industry?
(long pause)
That was a question, sir.
PIE-FACE
What? Do I like bankers?
Heath catches Meisel's eye. Waves him over.
MEISEL
Your Honor, may I have a minute to
speak with my colleagues.
ANGLE ON DEFENSE TABLE
Kevin and Heath. And the defendant -- a well-tailored
reptilian banker. Meisel joins them. Sotto voce.
KEVIN
Dump him. While you're at it
let's get rid of number six,
eight, and I'd say lose number
twelve, except the prosecutor's
gonna fuck up and do it for us.
MEISEL
Number six? You're kidding,
right? She's my first choice.
KEVIN
She's my first pass.
MEISEL
And eight? With the dreadlocks?
That's crazy. He's a defendant
juror if I ever saw one.
KEVIN
You see his shoes?
MEISEL
Look, kid, maybe down in Florida
you're the next big thing, but
this is New York. Manhattan.
We're not squeezing oranges here.
(CONTINUED)
17.
17 CONTINUED: (2) 17
KEVIN
He polishes those shoes every
night. He makes his own clothes.
He may look like a brother-with-
an-attitude to you, but I see a
man who's got a shotgun under his
bed and woe betide the creature
who steps into his garden.
(beat)
And number six? Your favorite?
She's damaged goods.
MEISEL
She's a Catholic schoolteacher.
(to Heath)
She believes in human frailty.
KEVIN
No. There's something missing
from her. She's wrong.
(eyes to the pool)
She wants on this jury. Somebody
hurt her and she wants revenge.
MEISEL
How the hell do you know that?
KEVIN
(honestly)
I don't know.
MEISEL
(to Heath)
Look, either you put a stop to
this happy horseshit or I walk.
HEATH
Walk.
MEISEL
(a pause)
All right. Here's the deal.
(to Kevin)
I lose with your jury? You do the
explaining.
The defendant staring a hole into Kevin, as we --
CUT TO:
18 EXT. FOLEY SQUARE JURY COURT - DAY 18
Kevin leaving court. In no hurry to get home. He likes
it here.
(CONTINUED)
18.
18 CONTINUED: 18
Across the street, a man, one of many passing on the
sidewalk. Except this man turns as Kevin passes.
Watching him. Seeing something that pleases him.
This is JOHN MILTON. And now, as Kevin disappears,
Milton joins the flow of people heading down into a
subway station -- down -- and gone, as we PULL BACK TO --
19 EXT. FOLEY SQUARE - DAY/NIGHT (TIME LAPSE) 19
As day becomes night.
19A NIGHT BECOMES DAY 19A
19B AND AGAIN 19B
19C AND THIS TIME LIGHTNING SIZZLES THROUGH THE SKY 19C
CUT TO:
20 INT. HOTEL SUITE - NIGHT 20
Mary Ann watching TV alone. Remnants of a room service
dinner. They've been living here for weeks now. The
maids have started to give up.
Kevin enters looking beat. Grabs a cold french fry.
MARY ANN
(into her show)
Your mother called. She has her
bad feeling.
KEVIN
Every now and then she gets one
right.
MARY ANN
What's up?
(looks over)
You okay? Something's up.
KEVIN
They deliberated for thirty-eight
minutes.
MARY ANN
Oh shit...
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 19.
20 CONTINUED: 20
MARY ANN (CONT'D)
(turns off the TV,
comforting him)
Oh, Kevin... I'm sorry, honey. What
the hell did they expect? The man
is guilty as can be. Wasn't a jury
anywhere gonna let him off.
KEVIN
Yeah. Except one.
MARY ANN
Kev....
KEVIN
(a big ole smile)
Not fucking guilty.
MARY ANN
Omigod...
KEVIN
Thirty-eight minutes. My jury.
MARY ANN
You did it! Omigod, Kevin...
KEVIN
Put on something that's gonna be
easy to take off later. We are
going out, girl!
CUT TO:
21 INT. LAW FIRM LOBBY - DAY 21
Milton, Chadwick, Waters. Those words written in stone
on the wall. The decor is stark, dramatic, awesome. The
receptionist is simply stunning. Kevin, wearing his best
suit, walking with Heath.
HEATH
Sorry to keep you waiting, but Mr.
Milton got pinned down in Indonesia
a little longer than expected.
(quietly as they
hit the view)
Not bad, huh? You can play it cool
if you want, but the first time I
walked in here, my jaw was on the floor.
22 INT. LAW FIRM HALL - DAY 22
The firm offices. A large central atrium. Offices rim
this space.
(CONTINUED)
20.
22 CONTINUED: 22
Lawyers come in all shapes and sizes. Assistants -- male
and female -- are uniformly attractive. The HUM of
serious BUSINESS in the background.
HEATH
(as they walk)
We've got forty partners vested at
the moment. Close to six hundred
associates. This is the home
office, but we've got quite a few
international arrangements, so Mr.
Milton spends a good deal of his
time in the air. In addition to
our corporate clients, we're
currently representing about
twenty-five foreign countries.
Mid-East, Balkans, Central
America, West Africa. Interesting
work, but travel intensive.
Kevin slowing as they pass an open doorway --
HEATH (O.S.)
He's got you scheduled for fifteen
minutes, which is a good sign, so
make the most of it...
23 INT. LAW FIRM - CHRISTABELLA'S OFFICE - DAY 23
THROUGH a large window we see a woman pacing her office.
She's wearing a headset and arguing in machine-gun
Italian. She is a goddess. Her name is CHRISTABELLA.
She is beautiful beyond propriety. She will also turn
out to be a brilliant EUC lawyer. She turns. Sees us
staring -- like that -- Venetian blinds close tightly.
24 INT. LAW FIRM HALL - DAY 24
Heath is now far ahead. Kevin rushing to catch up --
25 INT. LAW FIRM - ARCHED CORRIDOR - DAY 25
Kevin about six steps into it when suddenly, he looks
down. Stops. Completely spooked.
HEATH
Gotcha.
(smiles)
Man, I just love that...
(CONTINUED)
21.
25 CONTINUED: 25
The floor is nothing but glass. Sixty stories above the
world. A bridge between two skyscrapers.
HEATH
I watched a Senator piss his pants
right where you're standing.
KEVIN
(nonplussed)
Great.
HEATH
He's waiting for you. Good luck.
Kevin sucks it up. Starts walking. Up ahead, nothing
but an open door.
CUT TO:
26 INT. MILTON'S OFFICE - DAY 26
First of all it's round. And large. The walls are made
of stone. No windows. There are dramatic shafts of
natural light from above. Stark and clean to the
extreme. No paper anywhere.
Kevin standing there. Taking in the space.
MILTON (O.S.)
Behind you.
Kevin turns. There he is.
MILTON
Sorry. Didn't mean to...
KEVIN
No. Please.
(his hand)
Kevin Lomax.
MILTON
(they shake)
John Milton.
KEVIN
Nice to meet you.
MILTON
Have we been treating you well?
KEVIN
Very well. Thank you.
(CONTINUED)
22.
26 CONTINUED: 26
MILTON
Your wife, she's had a good time?
KEVIN
She sure has. It's been great.
The whole thing's been great.
MILTON
Good. That's our secret. We kill
you with kindness.
(walking the room,
circling)
What's your secret?
KEVIN
I couldn't say.
MILTON
You were a prosecutor.
KEVIN
Out of law school. Five years in
the Jacksonville D.A.'s office.
MILTON
Sixty-four straight convictions.
What a number.
KEVIN
I like to be in court. I didn't
plea out a lot.
MILTON
What's that like? One day you're
putting them away and the next
you're setting them free?
KEVIN
Takes a little getting used to.
MILTON
Pays better though, doesn't it?
KEVIN
Yes it does.
MILTON
The math teacher. The Gettys
case. I hear you were brilliant.
KEVIN
Prosecutor dropped the ball.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 23.
26 CONTINUED: (2) 26
MILTON
Really. So you think your guy was
guilty.
KEVIN
I didn't say that.
MILTON
What did you say?
KEVIN
How's this? I began the case with
a clear conscience.
MILTON
(quiet a moment)
I was sure you had a secret.
KEVIN
The men's room.
(beat)
Upstairs men's room in the Duval
County courthouse. There's a hole
in the wall. Straight through to
the next room.
(smiles)
I spent five years listening to
juries deliberate.
MILTON
I love it.
KEVIN
Love it all you want, just don't
repeat it. I'm not sure the
Florida Bar Association would
appreciate it.
MILTON
You don't really want to go back
to Florida, do you? Walk with me.
27 INT. MILTON'S OFFICE - PANEL - DAY 27
With that, Milton pushes a button. Huge panel screens
open out to:
28 EXT. MILTON'S TERRACE - DAY 28
A reflecting pool. Water right to the edge. A narrow
walkway straight through the middle. And we're fifty
stories above the city. The effect is staggering.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 24.
28 CONTINUED: 28
MILTON
What do you think? Some people
can't handle it.
KEVIN
It's peaceful.
MILTON
Exactly.
(pleased)
Fill in the resume. Tell me about
your family. What does your
father do?
KEVIN
I never got to know my father. He
passed away before I was born. My
mom raised me. Just the two of
us.
MILTON
She never remarried?
KEVIN
She wasn't married the first time.
MILTON
That can't be easy in Gainesville.
KEVIN
I don't think it's easy anywhere.
(re the view)
Holy shit...
MILTON
Little different when you're
looking down, isn't it?
(beat)
Tell me about her. Your mother.
What's she like?
KEVIN
She's a preacher's daughter.
She's tough. She's worked in the
same poultry plant for as long as
I can remember. I think she's up
to eight-fifty an hour. She's got
a church she really likes, so
she's usually either there or they
go out, they do a lot of volunteer
work.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 25.
28 CONTINUED: (2) 28
MILTON
'Many are in high places, and of
great renown: but mysteries are
revealed unto the meek.'
KEVIN
So they say.
MILTON
Didn't rub off on you? The book?
The church?
KEVIN
I'm on parole. Early release for
time served.
Suddenly they're quiet. Silenced by the view.
MILTON
Lotta potential clients down
there. (Sooner or later it all
flows through the streets.)
KEVIN
You don't have to sell me on New
York.
MILTON
You like it here, don't you?
KEVIN
Are we negotiating?
MILTON
Always.
KEVIN
Why do you need a criminal
department?
MILTON
Because our clients break the law
just like everyone else and I'm
tired of sending their business
across the street.
KEVIN
Are you offering me a job?
MILTON
I'm thinking about it. You have
the talent. I knew that before
you got here. It's the other
thing I wonder about.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 26.
28 CONTINUED: (3) 28
KEVIN
What thing is that?
MILTON
Pressure. Changes everything.
Some people, you squeeze them,
they focus. Some people fold.
Can you summon your talent at
will? Can you deliver on
deadline? Can you sleep at night?
KEVIN
When do we talk about money?
MILTON
Money's the easy part.
CUT TO:
29 EXT. LOMAX BUILDING AND STREET - DAY 29
Carnegie Hall. High off Central Park. A Mercedes
stretch pulls to the curb.
HEATH (V.O.)
Mt. Sinai Hospital right up the
street. Some excellent schools.
(CONTINUED)
27.
29 CONTINUED: 29
The driver rushing to open the door. Heath, Kevin and
Mary Ann getting out of the car just as a group of
uniformed school children come charging out of the
building to meet their bus.
HEATH
I doubt it was at the top of his
list when Mr. Milton bought the
building, but it's a great
neighborhood for children.
30 LOOKING UP - BUILDING 30
A stately, pre-war apartment house. One unique touch;
the penthouse rises in a sort of wedding cake design.
CUT TO:
31 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT LANDING - DAY 31
Turn of the Century. Elegant. Two apartments per floor.
JACKIE HEATH waiting here. She is black, early thirties,
and very, very attractive.
The elevator doors open. Mary Ann steps out, followed by
Kevin and Heath.
JACKIE
You must be Mary Ann -- Welcome.
I'm Jackie Heath...
MARY ANN
It's so sweet of you to come by.
JACKIE
Please. We live across the hall.
MARY ANN
You're kidding?
HEATH
Right here.
KEVIN
So it's just two apartments per
floor?
JACKIE
(to her husband)
You didn't tell them about the
apartment?
(CONTINUED)
28.
31 CONTINUED: 31
HEATH
I thought I'd let it speak for
itself.
Opening the door, and we enter --
32 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - DAY 32
A dream. Twelve-foot ceilings. Huge, oversized rooms.
Crown moldings. A huge central hallway. And light.
Kevin and Mary Ann walking through. Blown away.
HEATH
It's what they call a classic
eight.
JACKIE
We had them paint everything
white. Let you see it naked
before you pick your palette.
MARY ANN
What am I picking?
JACKIE
Palette. Your colors.
HEATH
I need to warn you about one
thing.
(as they turn back)
There are going to be some very
envious people at the firm. These
apartments, there aren't many of
them, it's really a partner's
perk. You must've made quite an
impression.
JACKIE
Took us six years to get in here.
CUT TO:
33 EXT. LOMAX APARTMENT BALCONY - DAY 33
French doors opening. Kevin walks out. Mary Ann just
behind him. They stand there, staring at the park.
MARY ANN
Are you really this good?
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 29.
33 CONTINUED: 33
KEVIN
I sure as hell hope so.
MARY ANN
They must want you pretty bad.
KEVIN
Look, Mare, I'm only getting
behind this if you're on board.
You want to go home, I'm with you.
MARY ANN
Sure. Let's go back to Gainesville.
You can keep scrounging for
clients and pumping out the
basement and I'll keep repossessing
cars for Akamian. Maybe, if we
kill ourselves, in about five
years we can afford a baby and
a weekend shack at Gulf Shores.
(beat)
Are you shitting me?
She smiles first. Kevin pulling her toward him, as we --
CUT TO:
34 INT. FIRM CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY 34
Incredible and extreme. Forty people -- SENIOR PARTNERS
and department heads -- seated at the table. They've
been going around the table introducing themselves to
Kevin. Nearing the end now --
LAWYER #1
Krasna. Maritime Law.
LAWYER #2
Parvathi Resh. Energy law. I
run the Islamic sub-group.
LAWYER #3
Joyce Rensaleer. Mergers and
acquisitions.
LAWYER #4
Chan Sanyou. Intellectual property.
BARZOON
Eddie Barzoon. Managing Director.
Christabella and another woman running in. Taking seats
quickly. Christabella beside Kevin.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 30.
34 CONTINUED: 34
CHRISTABELLA
Christabella Adrioli. Economics.
Primarily G-7 and E.C.
MILTON
There you go, Kevin. The whole
team. I'm trying to think how
long it's been since we were all
together. All of us. Too long.
I'm looking around, I know some
of you came from very far away to
be with us here today. It's
appreciated.
(pacing the window)
This room we're in was built --
architecturally designed -- to
promote healthy group dynamics.
A psychic centrifuge. Makes you
want to reach out, doesn't it?
Inclusion. Commonality. Synergy.
All that good shit. That's what
I'm looking for today. Because
when I hear stories -- the kind
of stories I've been hearing --
about backbiting, about partners
not working together, departments
cutting each other's throats
over clients, or worse... I feel
drained. It drains me. I feel
empty. I feel as though I've
let you all down.
(off dead silence)
We need something. A gesture.
(across the table)
What do I need, Eddie?
BARZOON
How about a public flogging?
MILTON
Wait a minute. I got it. It's
perfect. It's intimate. It's
quick. Doesn't cost a thing.
There's a power to it. What is
it?
(beat)
Let's hold hands. All of us.
Together.
Milton is first. Reluctance begins to fold.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 31.
34 CONTINUED: (2) 34
MILTON
Right now. Every person at this
table -- take the hand of the
person on either side...
Kevin finds Christabella's hand at his side.
MILTON
You want out of this, Eddie?
BARZOON
You've made your point, John.
MILTON
You won't hold hands?
(stare-down)
It's important to me, Eddie.
Kevin watching Barzoon fold. Watching the circle form.
MILTON
See. See, I feel better already.
CUT TO:
35 INT. KEVIN'S OFFICE HALL - DAY 35
Very nice. Major windows. Stripped down at the moment,
but there's a desk and phone.
HEATH
What do you think?
KEVIN
(kidding)
I guess it'll do.
PAM (O.S.)
Until something better comes
along...
In the doorway, PAM GARRETY. Never married. Two-pack-a-
day habit. Tough as dirt.
HEATH
Kevin Lomax. Pam Garrety.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
32.
35 CONTINUED: 35
HEATH (CONT'D)
(as they shake)
Pam was with the Brooklyn D.A.'s
office for fourteen years, so she
knows her way around the local
scene. She'll be your guide.
(to Pam)
You're gonna be expediting his New
York Bar application, right?
PAM
In the pipeline. For now, we'll
just have you work pro hac vice.
We've petitioned Florida for a
letter of good conduct. And...
(a folder)
... I prepared, at Mr. Milton's
request, an overview of the Moyez
case.
KEVIN
The Moyez case?
CUT TO:
36 EXT. EAST HARLEM STREET - DAY 36
Deep ghetto side street. One of those blocks that have
been completely lost. One whole side of the street has
nothing but boarded-up row houses.
A black Town Car pulling through. Slowing now --
36A INT. CAR (EAST HARLEM) - DAY 36A
Kevin and his DRIVER peering across the street.
DRIVER
I gotta stick with the vehicle.
CUT TO:
37 EXT. DAHOUMEY BAKA - DAY 37
A storefront botanica. Insane colors. Rusted iron
grates covering two tiny cataract windows. A steel door
is open. There's a sick-looking DOG tied to the doorknob;
he begins BARKING wildly, as he sees --
Kevin walking from the car. Suit and tie. Briefcase.
Turning, as he hears --
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 33.
37 CONTINUED: 37
JUNKIE (O.S.)
You get 'em! Go get 'em, man!
Three JUNKIES camped on the stoop of a burned-out
brownstone across the street. Dull, wasted faces aroused
by the DOG'S BARKING --
JUNKIE
Tell her turn that shit down! I
know what she's doin'! That's
right! Tell 'em take that noise
back t'Africa 'fore I --
Stopping instantly because -- a WOMAN is standing in the
botanica doorway. Her skin is jet black. Her eyes are
pale blue. Her hair is white. She holds a live chicken
by its feet. The DOG is still BARKING so she slaps it.
Hard. Now there is silence.
KEVIN
I'm looking for Phillipe Moyez.
She moves aside. Kevin enters --
38 INT. DAHOUMEY BAKA - DAY 38
It's dark. Oil lamps and candles for light. The air
thick with incense. Jars and bags and boxes are stacked
on shelves everywhere. Powders. Oils. Bones. Skins.
Potions. Dried herbs.
KEVIN
I called this morning, I'm not
sure who I spoke with.
(awkward silence)
I'm his lawyer. I have a card...
(finding it)
They said he would meet me here.
Phillipe Moyez.
WOMAN
(into the back)
Bhalla! Bhalla!
Kevin taking a very deep breath, as we --
CUT TO:
39 INT. DAHOUMEY BAKA - STAIRS - DAY 39
Darkness. A door opening above us. A BOY -- maybe ten
-- standing there. Kevin behind him.
(CONTINUED)
34.
39 CONTINUED: 39
KEVIN
Look, I'm not sure I'm making
myself clear here.
BOY
Moyez.
(a French accent)
You need him. Speak wid him.
40 INT. DAHOUMEY BAKA - STAIRS - DAY 40
The Boy hits the lights. A naked bulb on the landing
below. Beyond that, darkness.
KEVIN
You're saying he's down here?
(incredulous)
In the basement? In the dark?
BOY
(laughing)
Where? Where you think -- ?
Where you think me taking you?
41 INT. DAHOUMEY BAKA - BASEMENT HALL - DAY 41
The Boy, still laughing, starts down the stairs -- into
the darkness. Kevin hesitates. Sucks it up. Crouching
not to hit his head as he goes down into --
42 INT. DAHOUMEY BAKA - BASEMENT - DAY 42
Around the landing -- the Boy still in front of him and
-- down -- as another light comes up and the boy moves
quickly through the space, turning on lamps here and
there. No furniture. Mounds of bones. The walls
painted a deep, black red.
43 INT. DAHOUMEY BAKA - MOYEZ'S BASEMENT - DAY 43
Kevin waiting as the last light goes on --
MOYEZ (O.S.)
I thought I would recognize you,
but I do not.
Kevin, spooked, wheels around --
(CONTINUED)
35.
43 CONTINUED: 43
PHILLIPE MOYEZ squatting in the corner. Skinny and
intense. His eyes opaque and piercing at the same time.
At once unassuming and terrifying. A plastic bag of
fresh green roots in his lap. Ghat. Miraa. African
cocaine. His teeth black from chewing it.
KEVIN
Mr. Moyez?
(as he nods)
We've never met. I'm a lawyer.
I'm here about the animals.
MOYEZ
As you wish.
KEVIN
I'll be arguing your case with the
city. I need to ask you some
questions.
(gets folder)
I've done a little preliminary
research -- precedent -- cases in
the past that dealt with Santeria
and Vou--
MOYEZ
No. This is not Santeria. We are
not Voodoo. Candomble.
Obeayisne. None of that. We are
much older. Before. Before all
of it.
KEVIN
Okay. Is there a name? Or...
MOYEZ
We have papers. At your firm. We
have the tax exemption.
KEVIN
Okay. I'll get right into that.
(scribbling away)
The animals. Let's start with
that, then.
MOYEZ
We have an investment in blood.
Think of it as spiritual currency.
Moyez stands. Starts slowly across the room.
KEVIN
Look, Mr. Moyez, I'm going to need
your help with this.
(CONTINUED)
36.
43 CONTINUED: (2) 43
MOYEZ
Yes. That's very clear.
KEVIN
Perhaps we could start at the
beginning?
Moyez, ignoring him, moves to an old refrigerator beside
the stairs. For an instant, the door is open -- just a
glimpse. Meat. Bags of entrails. Jars of blood. Moyez
goes to a workbench near the wall --
KEVIN
Mr. Moyez?
MOYEZ
What is the name of the man who
will prosecute us?
KEVIN
(scanning file)
Merto. Assistant District
Attorney Arnold Merto.
MOYEZ
Bhalla. La chemise noire. Vite!
The Boy already running up the stairs. The sound of
NAILS FALLING onto the workbench --
KEVIN
What are you doing, Mr. Moyez?
Moyez stands aside, wiping his hands on his trousers. A
huge beef tongue sits on the bench. The nails are
scattered around it.
MOYEZ
You can go now. You will have all
the help I can give you.
Moyez now with a hammer. And the nail. Driving it into
the tongue. Kevin backing away, as we --
CUT TO:
44 INT. KEVIN'S OFFICE AND HALL - DAY 44
Video monitor -- FULL FRAME.
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 37.
45 INT. DAHOUMEY BAKA BASEMENT - DAY 45
Hand-held footage of a police raid. We're running --
through a building -- New York cops -- an animal control
officer -- through a door -- voices yelling -- down some
steps -- into a back yard -- people standing --
Here -- a scuffle starting -- voices rising -- the camera
shaking -- we see Bhalla -- and the Woman -- and --
There -- in the middle, is a goat -- on its knees -- its
throat has just been cut -- blood pouring into a pan and
Moyez holding its head with one hand -- a knife in the
other and this positively orgiastic expression on his
face, and on that image, we freeze frame.
46 OMITTED 46
& &
47 47
REVERSE TO:
48 INT. KEVIN'S OFFICE AND HALL - KEVIN - DAY 48
with the remote control. Pam there with him. A long,
sour silence.
PAM
What do you think?
KEVIN
It's a health code case. And it's
a loser. So what's the point?
(watching her)
It's a test, right?
PAM
Isn't everything?
KEVIN
The smart thing to do is make a
deal. Plea him out and suppress
the tape.
PAM
I'm sure the D.A.'s waiting for
your call.
KEVIN
Yeah, well, let him wait.
(beat)
And you can tell Milton too.
(beat)
I didn't come to New York to plea
bargain.
CUT TO:
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 38.
49 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - DAY 49
Jackie rejecting Mary Ann's color choices.
CUT TO:
50 INT. KEVIN'S OFFICE AND HALL - NIGHT 50
Law books stacked around. An associate wheels in a
trolley with more books.
CUT TO:
50A INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - NIGHT 50A
Mary Ann eating fried chicken. She doesn't like the
wallpaper. She's tearing it off, as we --
CUT TO:
50B INT. KEVIN'S OFFICE AND HALL - NIGHT 50B
Kevin working late. Across the hall Pam is going home.
PAM
It's only a health code case.
CUT TO:
51 INT. MANHATTAN COURTROOM #2 (MOYEZ COURTROOM) - DAY 51
Bench trial. No jury. JUDGE THEO SKLAR and staff.
A.D.A. MERTO at his seat. Pam sits with Moyez. Other
than that, it's empty.
A rump roast slaps down onto a table.
KEVIN (O.S.)
That's a veal roast, Your Honor.
U.S.D.A. approved and stamped.
Eight days ago, in Kansas City,
two men pushed a calf into a steel
frame as a third man fired a high-
voltage staple-gun into the
animal's skull. Men kill animals
and eat their flesh. Phillipe Moyez
killed a goat. He killed a goat.
And he did it at home, in a manner
consistent with his religious
beliefs. Now some people may find
it bizarre.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 38A/39.
51 CONTINUED: 51
KEVIN (O.S.CONT'D)
It's certainly not a religious
practice performed by everyone.
It's not as common as, say,
circumcision. It's certainly not
as common as the belief that wine
is transformed into blood. It's
not even as common as the handling
of poisonous snakes to prove one's
faith. But Phillipe Moyez isn't
two thousand miles away in a
stockyard. He doesn't use
electricity to kill. And worst of
all...
(holding up
the roast)
Phillipe Moyez is not shrink-
wrapped.
Merto begins to cough. Quietly at first, but...
KEVIN
Your Honor, the city timed this
police action to catch my client
exercising his constitutionally-
protected right to religious
freedom.
Merto's coughing getting worse as he tries to stop...
JUDGE SKLAR
This is a law protecting Kosher
butchering.
KEVIN
Exactly, Your Honor. And I'd like
to move at this time for an
immediate directed verdict for
dismissal.
Moyez staring a hole in Merto, and the man cannot stop
coughing...
JUDGE SKLAR
I happen to know a little bit
about Kashrut law, Mr. Lomax.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 40.
51 CONTINUED: (2) 51
KEVIN
I'm aware of that, Your Honor,
which is why I feel confident in
requesting a dismissal.
JUDGE SKLAR
Mr. Merto?
Merto can't speak -- wheezing and coughing, as we --
CUT TO:
52 INT. MOYEZ COURTHOUSE HALLWAY - DAY (TEN MINUTES LATER) 52
Empty and dark. Kevin, Moyez and Pam leaving the
courtroom. All smiles. Moyez shaking his hand and
thanking him, and then, from behind them, the sound of
one person CLAPPING --
MILTON
(coming toward them)
Bravo, Kevin. Bravo.
(as he arrives)
Pamela, you're looking lovely.
(to Moyez)
Satisfied, Phillipe?
MOYEZ
Always.
MILTON
Kevin, what can I say?
(smiles)
Outstanding.
Kevin, trying to look modest and failing, as we --
CUT TO:
53 EXT. CANAL STREET (CHINATOWN) - DAY (LITTLE LATER) 53
A street-food stall. Milton paying for Kevin's eggroll.
And they're walking...
MILTON
Best street food in the world.
Try that. Tell me it isn't great.
(as Kevin eats)
New York. What a scene, right?
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 41.
53 CONTINUED: 53
MILTON (CONT'D)
Guy like Moyez living in that
subterranean shithole all the
time he's running around with
fifteen million dollars in the
bank.
KEVIN
You gotta be kidding.
MILTON
What do you think? We're giving
you away? He's paying us in
goat's blood? I'm billing you
out at four-hundred an hour, my
friend. I don't see a whole lot
of pro bono work in your
immediate future.
(buzzing here)
Seriously, what I like, you got in
there with him. Inside the cage.
That's instinct. Can't be taught.
You gotta hear that on your own.
It's gotta be in your blood. It's
molecular. I bet I've got five
thousand lawyers working around
the planet. I couldn't name
ten -- couldn't name three --
I'd trust with Moyez.
KEVIN
So what the hell are they doing?
MILTON
What are they doing? They're
corporate lawyers, what do
you think they're doing? They're
busy reducing life and death to
the proper position of a semi-
colon. They're doing needlepoint.
Push button battles. Push button
wars. Armies that get so fucking
far away from each other they
need satellites to tell them
who won. No pain. No sound.
No smell. One big, multinational
circle jerk. You, on the other
hand, you're on the slaughterhouse
floor. You can't help but smell
your clients.
KEVIN
I figure you came to court to
make sure I didn't fuck this up.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 42.
53 CONTINUED: (2) 53
MILTON
Maybe I did. But don't get too
cocky. No matter how good you
are. Don't let them see you
coming. That's the gaff, my
friend -- make yourself small.
Be the hick. The cripple. The
nerd. The leper. The shit-
kicking surfer. Look at me --
I've been underestimated from
day one. Do I look like a
master of the universe? That's
your only weakness as far as I
can tell.
KEVIN
What's that?
MILTON
The look. The Florida stud thing.
'Scuse me, ma'am, did I leave my
boots under your bed?'
KEVIN
Never worked a jury didn't have a
woman.
MILTON
You know what you're missing?
What I have? This beautiful girl
she's just fucked me every way
she knows how -- we're done --
she's walking to the bathroom --
she turns back -- and there I am.
It's me. And she smiles -- it's
like a veil coming down across
her face -- and that smile, that's
a question mark, because she's
looking at me, she's wondering,
how did that happen? And see,
right there, from that moment on,
she's got a secret. I'm the hand
up Mona Lisa's skirt. I'm the
whisper in Nefertitti's ear.
I'm a surprise. They never see
me coming. That's what you're
missing.
Milton escaping across the street.
KEVIN
So why did you come down today?
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 43.
53 CONTINUED: (3) 53
MILTON
Because I knew it was gonna be
good. Because I knew I was gonna
like it. That you would shine --
that we would take this walk --
that we'd really talk. Why I
came down? You want the truth?
I'm an aging, hipster plutocrat.
I came up from nothing. From
dirt. I'm warming my hands on
your talent --
(distracted then -- )
Where's the chicken?
KEVIN
What?
A CHINESE MAN sits in a doorway --
MILTON
(perfect Cantonese)
Where's the chicken? The chicken
that plays tic-tac-toe. He used
to be right here.
CHINESE MAN
(Cantonese)
No, you passed it. Back that way.
MILTON
(back to Kevin, as
they walk)
There's a chicken, he's famous, he
plays tic-tac-toe. He never
loses.
(suddenly)
Hey. Like you. Right?
(catching himself)
Look, I'm rambling because I'm
excited. You're in the part of
the game I like best. The realm
of the True Believers. You are
a believer, aren't you?
KEVIN
I believe in the presumption of
innocence.
MILTON
Better a hundred guilty men go
free than a single innocent be
executed.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 44.
53 CONTINUED: (4) 53
KEVIN
Something like that.
MILTON
No. Exactly like that. It's
faith. You're either in or out.
You can't believe a little bit.
KEVIN
I was kidding.
MILTON
You're not here to amuse me.
See, that's why people hate lawyers.
So many of us have lost our faith.
Don't let that happen to you.
Token?
KEVIN
Excuse me?
Milton offering a token. Behind him, the entrance to the
Canal Street station --
MILTON
Learn the subways, Kevin. Use
them. Stay in the trenches.
Kevin taking the token, as we --
CUT TO:
54 OMITTED 54
& &
55 55
56 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - NIGHT 56
Kevin just coming in from work. The apartment is
starting to come together. Still not enough furniture,
but the sparseness reads as elegance.
KEVIN
(walking through)
Mare... Mare...?
MARY ANN (O.S.)
(from the bedroom)
You're late...
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 45.
56 CONTINUED: 56
He stops. In the hallway -- a wall is missing --
sheetrock stacked on the floor -- tools piled around -- a
renovation project halted for the night.
KEVIN
What's all this?
MARY ANN (O.S.)
All what?
Mary Ann up the hall in the bedroom door. Finishing her
makeup for a night out.
MARY ANN
Oh, that...
(smiles)
It was gonna be a nursery, but
then I remembered you'd have to be
home long enough to knock me up,
so now I'm thinking of building a
law library.
Kevin smiles. Drops his briefcase. Drops his pants.
MARY ANN
Save the thought. We were due up
there fifteen minutes ago.
She blows him a kiss. Ducking back into bedroom.
CUT TO:
57 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT BUILDING - ELEVATOR - NIGHT 57
Kevin and Mary Ann in their go-to-meeting clothes. Going
up. Nervous.
MARY ANN
Tell me I can handle this.
KEVIN
You can handle this.
MARY ANN
Say something nice.
KEVIN
Something nice.
MARY ANN
Promise me you won't leave me
alone in there.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 46.
57 CONTINUED: 57
KEVIN
Promise.
MARY ANN
How the hell did we get here?
KEVIN
Instinct.
58 INT. BARZOON APARTMENT - NIGHT 58
The door opens. DIANA BARZOON, tonight's hostess,
standing there.
DIANA
There you are!
(to Kevin)
Diana Barzoon, Eddie's wife.
(an air kiss for
Mary Ann)
Come on, you two. Everyone can't
wait to meet you.
59 INT. BARZOON APARTMENT - NIGHT 59
Twice the size of Kevin's place. Decorated and furnished
to the max. Seventy-five guests and ten in staff. The
crowd is very smart, sleek, and experienced at these sort
of things. Mary Ann's hand squeezing Kevin's just a bit
more tightly as Diana leads them into the throng, and we
begin --
60 INT. BARZOON APARTMENT - NIGHT 60
SERIES OF SHOTS - PARTY
Faces -- some of them strangers. Some of them familiar
from the conference room scene.
61 KEVIN 61
huddled with Jackie and Mary Ann as Heath brings them
drinks from the bar.
62 PAM 62
and two lawyers near the terrace doors -- the smoking
section -- talking with nicotine-driven intensity.
63 OMITTED 63
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 47.
64 CHRISTABELLA 64
simply walking through the room.
65 EDDIE AND DIANA BARZOON 65
They've found Kevin and Mary Ann.
DIANA
I love the eights. The entire 'A'
line -- such a great shell.
(manic and perhaps
a bit insane)
I do. I envy you. Starting from
scratch. Do you have your fabrics
yet? Tell me you don't.
MARY ANN
Not yet. I don't think so.
DIANA
Come with me. Instantly.
(to Kevin)
I'm borrowing your wife...
BARZOON
Be gentle, honey. These are
normal people.
Mary Ann giving Kevin a "help me" look as she's dragged
into the party --
BARZOON
Your first?
KEVIN
Excuse me?
BARZOON
Is this your first marriage?
DISSOLVE TO:
66 OMITTED 66
67 INT. BARZOON APARTMENT - SAME SCENE (PARTY) - NIGHT 67
(LATER)
Front door -- abuzz -- Milton has just arrived.
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 48.
68 INT. BARZOON APARTMENT - NIGHT 68
Across the room, Mary Ann with Jackie and Diana and
another wife --
MARY ANN
Who is that?
JACKIE
(looking over)
My God, girl...
DIANA
You haven't met him yet?
MARY ANN
Who is he?
69 INT. BARZOON APARTMENT - NIGHT 69
Milton -- across the room -- looks over -- he's found
them -- already coming toward them -- smiling --
DIANA
I swear he can hear us.
JACKIE
Hell, he can smell us.
MILTON
Mary Ann? John Milton...
(his hand and eyes)
I was hoping we'd meet tonight.
And here you are, already swimming
with the sharks.
Even as he says this, he's kissing their smiling cheeks.
Mary Ann looking a little lost, as we --
CUT TO:
70 INT. BARZOON APARTMENT - NIGHT (SAME TIME) 70
Kevin talking with another lawyer. Looking over as
Christabella glides through the room.
CUT TO:
71 INT. BARZOON APARTMENT - SOFA - DUSK (SAME TIME) 71
Milton and Mary Ann sitting together. Alone.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 49.
71 CONTINUED: 71
MARY ANN
Deadbeats. I mean, that's what it
comes down to. You can call
yourself a finance trainee, or
a financial resources adviser,
or whatever, you're still
spending most of your day trying
to hammer car payments out of
deadbeats.
(looking around)
No deadbeats here tonight.
MILTON
You'd be surprised. There's a
lot more fear in this room than
you'd think.
MARY ANN
What do these people have to be
afraid of?
MILTON
Each other. Themselves. Why?
What scares you?
MARY ANN
Not knowing who the deadbeats are.
MILTON
You'll figure that out. There's
only one thing worth being
frightened of anyway, and that's
being alone. Truly and finally
alone.
MARY ANN
Yes. I think you're right.
MILTON
You know what terrifies me?
Responsibility.
MARY ANN
For what?
MILTON
For what. For you. Let's be
honest, I've changed your life.
Changed it forever. There's
been a seismic shift in your
existence and I'm responsible.
And you've never even met me.
We're talking for the very
first time. How insane is that?
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 50.
71 CONTINUED: (2) 71
MARY ANN
It's a wonderful opportunity for
Kevin.
MILTON
Kevin. Please. I'm not worried
about Kevin. He buys a few new
suits. Learns a few new tricks.
He's there. I don't worry about
Kevin. What about you?
MARY ANN
I'm not leaving a lot behind.
MILTON
You must have family.
MARY ANN
Bad subject. I haven't spoken
to my folks in a long time. My
sister ran all the way to
Germany.
MILTON
Whoaa... I gotta think about that.
I had you down as daddy's little
girl, you know? The princess.
Sugar plum snapshots. Pastel
bedspreads. Cinnamon cookies.
MARY ANN
I tell Kevin the only thing worse
than not having a father was
having mine.
MILTON
So you've got a lot at stake here.
You've made a real commitment.
MARY ANN
I guess I have.
MILTON
It's not gonna be like
Gainesville, but then you know
that already.
MARY ANN
We're gonna be fine. It's gonna
be great.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 51.
71 CONTINUED: (3) 71
MILTON
If it isn't, will you come to me?
Let me help? I'd feel a lot less
responsible. Will you do that
for me?
MARY ANN
Sure.
MILTON
The worst vice is advice, right?
But can I make a suggestion?
It's about your hair, some people
are sensitive, that's why I ask.
MARY ANN
No. I mean, go ahead. You don't
like it?
MILTON
You have shoulders nobody can see.
Pull it back.
MARY ANN
You mean, you want me to pull my
hair back?
MILTON
If I do it, everyone in this room
that's pretending not to watch us
will assume we're fucking or
something. Pull back your hair.
(there's the mirror)
Take a look. See. That's it.
Isn't that incredible? You need
to cut your hair.
MARY ANN
You're kidding.
MILTON
A woman's shoulders are the
frontlines of her mystique.
And her neck, if she's alive,
has the very mystery of a
border town. It's the no
man's land in the battle
between mind and body.
(beat)
You know, your natural color
would really bring out your eyes...
Mary Ann frozen there, as we --
CUT TO:
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 52.
72 EXT. BARZOON APARTMENT - TERRACE (PARK VIEW) - NIGHT 72
(MAGIC HOUR)
Kevin standing at the rail. He looks over. Christabella
not ten feet away.
CHRISTABELLA
Do you have this view?
KEVIN
Sorry?
CHRISTABELLA
From your terrace, is this your
view?
KEVIN
Sort of. Not exactly. I'm about
twelve floors down. What about
you?
CHRISTABELLA
No, I live downtown. This is the
family building.
KEVIN
Sounds like fun. Downtown, I
mean. I'm just getting to know
the city.
CHRISTABELLA
Is it everything you expected?
KEVIN
More.
CHRISTABELLA
(raising her glass)
May we always have more than we
expect. Salute.
KEVIN
Amen.
CHRISTABELLA
Are you alone?
KEVIN
You mean, tonight?
CHRISTABELLA
Is your wife a jealous woman?
(beat)
Silly question. We're all
jealous, aren't we?
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 53.
72 CONTINUED: 72
CHRISTABELLA (CONT'D)
(laughing)
Oh, dear, I'm going to scare you
away.
KEVIN
I doubt it.
CHRISTABELLA
You like to be on top, don't you?
KEVIN
Excuse me?
CHRISTABELLA
Of the situation. You prefer to
be on top.
KEVIN
Depends on the view.
MILTON (O.S.)
You know what I see?
Milton in the doorway. He's been watching them.
MILTON
I see the future of this law firm.
(perfect Italian)
Christabella, cara, prestamelo per
favore, pe lo riporto piu tardi.
CHRISTABELLA
It's a boring party, anyway.
(to Kevin)
Ciao.
Kevin can't help watching her walk away.
MILTON
Look, we gotta talk. You grab
Heath and Eddie Barzoon and get
up to my place right away. And
let's be quiet about it.
CUT TO:
73 OMITTED 73
thru thru
76 76
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 54.
77 INT. BARZOON APARTMENT (PARTY) - NIGHT 77
Getting louder and wilder. Mary Ann looking lost.
Searching for Kevin... He's not here... not there...
MARY ANN
Have you seen Kevin?
Jackie Heath shaking her head no, as Mary Ann continues
on through the party.
CUT TO:
78 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - ELEVATOR - NIGHT 78
Silence. Going up. Kevin, Heath, and Barzoon.
CUT TO:
79 INT. BARZOON APARTMENT - STUDY - HALLWAY - NIGHT 79
Mary Ann still looking for Kevin. Scanning faces.
Stopping as she reaches a door. Opening it and --
80 INT. BARZOON APARTMENT - STUDY - NIGHT 80
Just enough light to make out two MEN standing across the
room. Silhouettes against the window.
MARY ANN
Sorry...
(in doorway)
I'm looking for my husband.
The Men -- two vaguely familiar faces from the firm.
MAN #1
Don't think he's here.
Suddenly, a WOMAN's head rises INTO FRAME --
WOMAN
It's just us...
MAN #2
But feel free to join in...
And suddenly it's clear, she's walked in on an impromptu
menage a trois. The Woman is kneeling on a table, dress
hiked up, ass in the air. Man #1 fucking her from behind.
Man #2 is getting blown and --
Mary Ann IN SHOT as the woman begins to laugh and the door
WIPES the FRAME.
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 55.
81 OMITTED 81
82 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 82
The penthouse. One enormous room. Grand scale
everything. Otherworldly. Staggering. Of special,
special interest: a huge Bas Relief dominates an entire
wall. Carved into the marble are human forms -- young,
naked bodies swimming in a hypnotic chaos of clouds.
Milton is on the phone. Two lines going. The dialogue
is unimportant, we'll not understand it anyway -- he's
going back and forth between Korean and Russian --
brokering some emergency deal.
Heath is at the bar, mixing drinks. Barzoon has a cigar.
Kevin just standing there gaping at the space.
KEVIN
Is there more to it?
BARZOON
Just this room.
KEVIN
And a bedroom?
BARZOON
No bedroom.
KEVIN
Where does he sleep?
HEATH
Who said he sleeps?
KEVIN
Where does he fuck?
MILTON (O.S.)
(behind them)
Everywhere.
BARZOON
What's up, John?
MILTON
How many hours did we bill Alex
Cullen last year?
HEATH
Sixteen thousand, two hundred and
forty-two.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 56.
82 CONTINUED: 82
BARZOON
What the fuck did he do now?
MILTON
Alex Cullen has just been
charged with murdering his ex-
wife, her stepson, and a maid.
BARZOON
When did this happen?
MILTON
Just now. Tonight. I already
sent Pam downtown to make bail
arrangements.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 10/22/96 57.
82 CONTINUED: (2) 82
BARZOON
They'll fucking crucify him.
They'll get in line. I gotta call
Meisel...
MILTON
No. I want Kevin on this case.
BARZOON
I hope you're kidding.
(beat)
Alexander Cullen in a Manhattan
triple murder? With Kevin?
You're dreaming.
MILTON
I've shaken hands with every
marquee defense attorney in town.
I take Kevin and I don't look
back.
BARZOON
You're a great judge of talent,
John. You're the master. I just
don't see it coming together.
MILTON
I want you on board, Eddie.
KEVIN
Look, I appreciate the vote of
confidence, but maybe Eddie's got
a point here.
MILTON
We can get this case. The man's
our client.
BARZOON
He's a business client.
MILTON
We know him better than he knows
himself. We have the inside
track. We have the best damn
trial lawyer in the city. It's
ours to lose.
BARZOON
Tell it to Cullen.
MILTON
No. That's up to Kevin.
(CONTINUED)
58.
82 CONTINUED: (3) 82
With that, the PHONE starts RINGING --
MILTON
That's Pam calling...
(to Kevin)
Are we fighting for this, or not?
CUT TO:
83 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - NIGHT 83
It's late. Dark. Kevin tiptoeing through the apartment
-- turning the corner and --
MARY ANN
You left me there. I had a
fucking panic attack until Jackie
told me where you were.
(raw)
Three hours? You don't even call?
KEVIN
Stop. Reset. I'm upstairs, I'm
with Milton and Barzoon and there
is a very good possibility that
I'm about to catch a triple
homicide defendant who also
happens to be the largest real
estate developer in the city. I
had to bail on the party!
MARY ANN
You bailed on me!
KEVIN
Mare... did you hear me?
MARY ANN
I was all by myself!
KEVIN
For three whole hours...
(as she's walking)
You gotta be kidding, right?
No, she's leaving. Kevin left there, alone --
CUT TO:
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 59.
84 EXT. STREET - CONSTRUCTION SITE - DAY (MORNING) 84
A news van whipping up the block. TIRES SCREECHING as it
pulls up beside a construction site where two other news
vans are already unloading. The smell of headlines
and --
85 EXT. STREET - CONSTRUCTION SITE - DAY 85
Two photographers sprinting toward the shell of a high-
rise building. A sign blankets the scaffolding. Huge,
ego-size lettering reads...
CULLEN TOWERS
"The Next Great Address"
CUT TO:
86 EXT. CONSTRUCTION HIGH-RISE - DAY 86
Looking DOWN FROM fifty stories high, as the media
vehicles converge like toys below.
CULLEN (V.O.)
... Look at this, I'm not out
twenty minutes, we're running from
the goddamn press. Look at those
insects down there...
87 INT. CONSTRUCTION HIGH-RISE - DAY 87
ALEXANDER CULLEN turns back from the edge. Forty-five.
Tan, grief-stricken, and sleep deprived. The space is
huge and bare. Unfinished concrete. Wide, open views.
Kevin, Milton, and Barzoon standing there.
CULLEN
... You may be right, but look at
it from my point of view. I'm
sure he's a whiz kid. I believe
you. But this is my ass we're
talking.
(to Barzoon)
Jesus, Eddie...
MILTON
Alex, you know how this town works.
You've got enemies you never heard
of. And now? Now you're down?
I'd prepare for a class-A, New York
pig-fuck. You're going to have to
ask yourself who you really trust.
Who do you trust, Alex?
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 60.
87 CONTINUED: 87
CULLEN
I don't know... I gotta look
around.
KEVIN
You don't have time to shop, Mr.
Cullen.
(the newspaper)
Jury selection started this morning
at every breakfast table in the
city. You lost round one. This is
what people know. They know you
and your wife were living
separately. They see this maid --
Elucinda -- a sixty-eight-year-old
grandmother supporting seven
children. And then there's your
stepson, a ten-year-old with a
bullet in his brain. Those are
already powerful images in the mind
of the public.
CULLEN
I didn't kill anybody.
KEVIN
I'm telling you how it looks. You
discover the crime. You call it
in. You've got blood on your
person and clothes, and --
(before Cullen can
cut him off)
-- and -- your prints are on the
murder weapon.
CULLEN
How do you know that?
KEVIN
There's a second print in blood --
it's a partial of a hand -- on the
wall next to th--
CULLEN
I have keys! I called the cops
from the house! I touched the
goddamn wall!
(to Barzoon)
I was panicked! I panicked!
KEVIN
We need twelve people who can see
past all that. I'd get out in
front of this fast.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 61.
87 CONTINUED: (2) 87
CULLEN
I panicked! Is that a crime? I
touched the wall!
BARZOON
He's right, Alex. People need
to hear these things.
KEVIN
You're not happy tomorrow? The
next day? We'll move over. But
right now -- this moment -- you
need immediate representation.
CULLEN
I've got a fourteen-year-old
stepdaughter who I care more about
than anything in the world. They
won't let me call her from
downtown. They won't let me talk
to her after I'm out. I gotta go
deal with that first.
KEVIN
We need to issue a statement.
Cullen looks to Milton. Waiting. Help me.
MILTON
He's a winner, Alex. And they'll
never see him coming.
CULLEN
I'm gonna make some very tough
phone calls. Then I'm gonna take a
pill and try to get some sleep. My
place. Eight A.M. tomorrow. Alone.
(beat)
And you better be every fucking
inch as good as you think you are.
CUT TO:
88 OMITTED 88
89 EXT. SOHO BOUTIQUE STREET - DAY 89
A woman with short dark hair -- her back to us -- looking
in a shop window. Her reflection in the glass, it's Mary
Ann. She's cut and colored her hair.
Jackie and Diana already going in and --
CUT TO:
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 62.
90 INT. SOHO BOUTIQUE AND DRESSING ROOM - DAY 90
White wine and couture. Mary Ann holding a blouse.
MARY ANN
(whispering)
This is three thousand dollars.
JACKIE
Know what you need to do? Buy it.
Wear it once. And then throw it
away. That'll loosen you up.
DIANA
I say spend it all. If you're
never gonna see your husband, you
might as well have a relationship
with his money.
(as she strips)
I swear, if he wasn't afraid of me
shooting my mouth off, Eddie
would've put a cellulite clause in
the pre-nup.
JACKIE
Dr. Robert, I'm telling you, he's
the miracle man. You've seen my
new tits, I mean who does it
better than that?
DIANA
It's not my tits I'm worried
about.
Mary Ann turns. Jackie beside her. Topless. Smiling.
JACKIE
Real or not?
(her breasts)
They look real...
(she shimmies)
They move real...
MARY ANN
(trapped there)
Must be real.
JACKIE
Feel them. Go ahead. That's the
ultimate test.
Before Mary Ann can stop her, Jackie is taking her hand,
guiding it to her breast, and holding it there.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 63.
90 CONTINUED: 90
JACKIE
(smiling)
Feel real?
MARY ANN
Yes.
(pulling away)
Absolutely. Real.
JACKIE
(backing away)
Dr. Robert. When you're ready.
Mary Ann looking away as Jackie walks off. Everything is
as it was, and yet different.
And then, she turns and sees --
91 OMITTED 91
92 INT. SOHO BOUTIQUE - DRESSING ROOM (FX) - DAY 92
(EFX) Jackie pulling a dress down over her head.
She's taking her time because it's a delicate, clingy...
93 INT. SOHO BOUTIQUE - DRESSING ROOM (FX) - DAY 93
... complicated outfit -- turning -- and for one brief
moment we see a serpent's head -- disappearing now into
the dress as she struggles inside the material -- her
body -- the body inside the dress -- transforming -- ribs
and spikes and huge moving muscles strain the limits of
the material, and then, suddenly, it's over.
94 INT. SOHO BOUTIQUE - DRESSING ROOM - DAY 94
Jackie's face appears. She straightens the seams.
Turning now --
JACKIE
What do you think?
But Mary Ann is gone.
CUT TO:
95 OMITTED 95
thru thru
102 102
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 64/65.
103 INT. LAW FIRM - STAIRCASE/OFFICE - DAY 103
Kevin, coming out a door with Heath and an associate.
KEVIN
... first thing -- I need this
ASAP -- I want articles, clippings,
TV interviews, I want everything
you can get on Alex Cullen.
HEATH
(walking off)
You better get a semi truck.
104 INT. LAW FIRM - STAIRCASE/OFFICE - DAY 104
Christabella climbing the stairs. Short skirt. Great
angle. Halfway up, she stops to fix her stockings.
(CONTINUED)
66.
104 CONTINUED: 104
CHRISTABELLA
Enjoying yourself?
KEVIN
(caught)
Sorry. I'm just...
CHRISTABELLA
Just what? Looking?
KEVIN
Guilty.
CHRISTABELLA
Congratulations on Cullen.
KEVIN
Thank you.
CHRISTABELLA
What an incredible situation, even
if you lose you become a star.
KEVIN
What if I win?
CHRISTABELLA
If you win...
(smiles)
If you win it's everything.
KEVIN
Any advice?
CHRISTABELLA
Cullen is a pig. He's a pig
beyond reasonable doubt. I
suggest you keep him as far away
from the jury as possible.
KEVIN
I'll keep it in mind.
CHRISTABELLA
(leans in,
whispering)
You can look all you want, but I
don't fuck married men.
KEVIN
What a relief. I was starting to
think you were perfect.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 10/22/96 67.
104 CONTINUED: (2) 104
PAM (O.S.)
Kevin...
He turns instantly -- Pamela standing behind him.
PAM
Your wife is on the phone. She
sounds upset...
Christabella smiling as Kevin rushes off.
CUT TO:
105 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - DAY 105
Mary Ann very upset. Kevin has just come home.
MARY ANN
I don't care if they can hear me!
I don't care! I don't like it here.
And these women, my God... I mean,
I'm seeing things for crissake!
KEVIN
You just left them in the store?
MARY ANN
Yes!
KEVIN
Look, calm down, all right?
Listen to me... Mare? First,
you do this radical thing with
your hair...
MARY ANN
You hate it.
KEVIN
Stop. I think it's fine. But I
also think it's traumatic.
You've got the pressure of
fitting in with new friends,
a new place... add three bottles
of wine and --
MARY ANN
No! It wasn't the wine. It
wasn't the wine or my hair or
talking to Kathy, because I know
that's what you're gonna say --
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 10/22/96 68.
105 CONTINUED: 105
KEVIN
What about Kathy?
MARY ANN
What about her? She's pregnant
again.
KEVIN
Oh, and that's got nothing to do
with it...
MARY ANN
Kevin, I never see you anymore.
Now that you've got this big case,
it's just only gonna get worse. I
don't know anybody here. These
women scare the living shit out of
me. If you can believe it, I'm
actually looking forward to having
your mother come and visit.
KEVIN
What about the apartment?
MARY ANN
Exactly! You just go out -- you
buy a few new suits and you're
fine. I've got this whole place
to fill up and I know we have all
this money and it's supposed to
be fun, but it isn't! It's like
a test! The whole thing is
like one big test! I'm lonely.
KEVIN
Let's make a baby.
MARY ANN
Don't tease me.
KEVIN
I wouldn't do that. Unless you
asked.
MARY ANN
You hate my hair, don't you?
106 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - DAY 106
His hand moves against her cheek, and then down the back
of her neck. She moves into his body and --
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 10/22/96 68A.
107 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - DAY 107
(EFX) Suddenly -- She's Christabella -- right there --
in his arms -- before he can react -- before he can speak
-- she finds his mouth and they are kissing and --
108 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - DAY 108
Suddenly -- She's Mary Ann -- and he's pulling up her
dress and she's helping him and his hand is moving over
bare thigh and --
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 69.
109 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - DAY 109
(EFX) Suddenly -- She's Christabella unbuttoning her
blouse -- and she can't do it fast enough -- still with
her mouth on his and his hand between her legs and --
110 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - DAY 110
Suddenly -- She's Mary Ann -- flattening against the wall
and her blouse is open and --
111 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - DAY 111
(EFX) Suddenly -- She's Christabella -- pulling off her
bra as his mouth moves over her breasts and his hands are
everywhere and the bra is gone and she's tearing at his
shirt and he's helping her and her dress is on the floor
and there's no rug or anything, but this is where they
will fuck because they can't stop themselves and she's on
her back on the bare floor and he's kicking away his
shoes and she's feeling herself and staring into his eyes
and suddenly --
112 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - DAY 112
MARY ANN
Stop.
Kevin looks like he's been shot. In the balls.
MARY ANN
Where are you?
KEVIN
Right here.
Mary Ann doesn't look so sure.
CUT TO:
113 INT. CULLEN'S APARTMENT - DAY 113
Huge. Opulent. Kevin and Pamela have been taking notes.
Cullen is exhausted, frustrated.
KEVIN
... because it needs to be clear,
Mr. Cullen, because I need to
understand exactly what happened --
you're standing there -- you look
down -- there's the gun --
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 70.
113 CONTINUED: 113
CULLEN
I don't know why I picked it up --
it was before I saw Elucinda's
body and then, I mean we've been
over this...
KEVIN
You kneeled down to pick it up?
CULLEN
You work late. You come home.
You walk in. Everybody's dead.
It's not something you plan for.
KEVIN
Back up. Two prints by the gun.
Right knee. Right hand. It's a
strange move you must've made to
pick it up.
CULLEN
The blood, I don't know, maybe I
was trying to avoid the blood.
KEVIN
I'm trying to picture it...
(contorting)
Your hand came from inside and
underneath.
Cullen reaches into his jacket and pulls out a gun.
CULLEN
You want to see? Here...
(dropping to his
knees)
I'll fucking show you.
Kevin watching Cullen quickly retrieve the gun from the
floor with this weird little motion.
CULLEN
(standing)
Okay? Clear? Got it?
KEVIN
Whose gun is that, Alex?
CULLEN
It's mine.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 71.
113 CONTINUED: (2) 113
KEVIN
Are you out of your mind?
(incredulous)
You're charged in a triple
homicide, you're walking around
with a forty-five?
CULLEN
I've had nine death threats.
KEVIN
Give it over. Now. Gimme the
gun.
CULLEN
I gotta protect myself.
KEVIN
That's my job. When the case is
over you can have it back.
(strong)
This is a dealbreaker, Alex.
Cullen hands him the gun.
KEVIN
Okay. Let's wrap it up.
CULLEN
So what's next?
KEVIN
We need to talk to your assistant.
CULLEN
Call her.
KEVIN
You feel confident she'll back you
on the time.
CULLEN
Melissa, yeah. She's okay. She's
a real straight arrow.
KEVIN
So we're going to talk to her and
you're not going to talk to
anybody. Okay?
CULLEN
(with a smile)
No comment.
CUT TO:
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 72.
114 INT. D.A. MERTO'S OFFICE - DAY 114
A large, ugly cube. Daylight through dirty windows.
Kevin alone. On the table, a large, grey envelope.
Printed on it:
PROPERTY OF THE MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY
FORENSIC LOG - #546D - STATE VS. ALEX CULLEN
Kevin going through a stack of crime scene photographs.
Tough stuff. One after another. Three victims. Many
angles. We can see their horror in his face.
CUT TO:
115 OMITTED 115
116 EXT. LAW FIRM HELICOPTER - DUSK 116
PANNING ALONG Wall Street. The whole downtown skyline.
SETTLING finally ON the 60th floor of the law firm
building. Hovering at a distance. Lights on here and
there and --
One window. Kevin's office. He and Pamela are talking
to a young woman. This is MELISSA BLOCK, Cullen's
assistant and alibi. We can't hear what they're saying,
but it looks to be a collegial meeting.
CUT TO:
117 OMITTED 117
118 INT. KEVIN'S OFFICE AND HALL - NIGHT 118
Kevin and Pam walking Melissa out through the empty
reception area.
MELISSA
Would my babysitter have to
testify?
KEVIN
We need her to establish the time
you returned home.
MELISSA
She doesn't have her green card is
why I ask. I don't want her to
get in trouble.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 73.
118 CONTINUED: 118
KEVIN
Tell you what, Melissa, let's talk
to her first. See where she
stands and take it from there.
PAM
I'll make sure Melissa gets down
to the car.
MELISSA
Mr. Cullen didn't kill those
people.
KEVIN
That's why we're all working so
hard.
As Melissa exits with Pam, Kevin notices two associates
carrying boxes far up the hall and we --
CUT TO:
119 INT. LAW FIRM LIBRARY AND HALL - NIGHT (SAME TIME) 119
Paper shredders. Half a dozen of them cranking full
tilt. Stacks of files left to go. Barzoon and six
associates working late. Shirtsleeves and coffee.
BARZOON
(directing traffic)
Okay, Excelsior Insurance, who's
handling that?
(a hand goes up)
All this has to go. Guatemala,
Sudan, Cyprus...
(cheerleading)
Let's stay organized here.
(across the room)
Martin, no. Devada Holdings.
That's all you're doing. Believe
me, it'll take all night.
Barzoon stops as he sees Kevin in the doorway.
KEVIN
I thought I was the only one
working late.
BARZOON
So did we.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 74.
119 CONTINUED: 119
KEVIN
Good news. We just wrapped up
with Cullen's assistant. She
looks like a great alibi.
BARZOON
What a pleasant surprise.
KEVIN
But it looks like you have your
hands full.
BARZOON
Just a little housekeeping.
(beat)
If they ask, you never saw this.
KEVIN
Who would ask?
BARZOON
Weaver.
KEVIN
Who's that?
BARZOON
Justice Department. Weaver
Commission.
(staring at him)
You don't know about Weaver?
KEVIN
Sorry.
BARZOON
How nice for you.
MILTON (O.S.)
Grab your coat, Mr. Lomax...
Milton in the hall behind Kevin. Tickets in hand.
MILTON
The night is young.
(re: tickets)
Title fight. Ringside.
KEVIN
I'd have to call Mary Ann...
MILTON
Do it on the way.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 75.
119 CONTINUED: (2) 119
BARZOON
(am I here?)
You get my message?
MILTON
You write beautifully, Eddie.
BARZOON
We need to talk.
MILTON
Soon.
BARZOON
I hope so.
CUT TO:
120 OMITTED 120
& &
121 121
122 INT. SUBWAY TO FIGHTS TRAIN - NIGHT 122
The car half full. Kevin and Milton standing near the
door. Right behind them, three guys in the midst of an
intense conversation in Spanish.
KEVIN
So what's this Weaver Commission?
MILTON
I don't micro-manage. You find the
talent and then you delegate. Who
knows what the hell Eddie's up to.
He's got a lotta fingers in a lotta pies.
Suddenly, one of the guys behind them, the biggest of the
three, we'll call him BIG GUY, turns back --
BIG GUY
What the fuck you looking at?
(it's Milton he's
talking to)
You fucking deaf or something?
MILTON
No. I can hear you just fine.
BIG GUY
Good, 'cause I want you should get
your skinny little ass somewhere
down the fucking car away from me.
(CONTINUED)
76.
122 CONTINUED: 122
MILTON
(stare-down)
I'm not going anywhere.
Big Guy pulls open his jacket -- a knife in his belt.
KEVIN
Oh, shit.
(stepping back)
John...
But Milton doesn't move. He smiles.
MILTON
(perfect Spanish)
Maricela, the moment you left the
apartment she was upstairs with
Carlos. They're on the pipe right
now, my friend. They're in the
kitchen splitting a jumbo and then
he's going to fuck her in the ass,
right on your bed, and she's going
to like it.
Big Guy backing away -- into his friends --
BIG GUY
Como...? How do you...?
The SUBWAY RATTLING into the Fourteenth Street station.
MILTON
(still Spanish)
Do yourself a favor and put that
knife where it belongs.
The doors open. Big Guy stumbling back -- his friends
catching him -- helping him off the train -- looking
back, as the doors close and...
It's like it never happened. Milton straightening his
cuffs as the train pulls away.
KEVIN
What did you say to him?
MILTON
I told him if he didn't leave us
alone, you were going to kick all
three of their asses.
CUT TO:
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 77.
123 INT. MADISON SQUARE GARDEN - BOXING RING - NIGHT 123
Right INTO it. Red trunks with a huge right hand and
blue trunks drops and the Garden goes wild -- five
thousand people yelling for blood.
124 INT. MADISON SQUARE GARDEN - NIGHT 124
And Milton at ringside, breathing deeply of the vibe
and --
KEVIN
(on his feet)
Get up! Get up, dammit! C'mon!
125 INT. MADISON SQUARE GARDEN - NIGHT 125
Blue trunks rises on shaky legs as the BELL RINGS, the
round over and the crowd groans back into its seats.
126 INT. MADISON SQUARE GARDEN - NIGHT 126
Milton turning as DON KING collars him.
DON KING
Look at this sorry shit, you got
better seats than me.
MILTON
You need a better lawyer.
DON KING
Nobody better than you, Johnny.
MILTON
Hang on a second...
(presenting Kevin)
Meet my new heavyweight. Kevin
Lomax.
Kevin shaking hands with Don King, as we --
CUT TO:
127 INT. SPANISH RESTAURANT (DOWNTOWN) - NIGHT (LATE) 127
Serious flamenco. Music is loud. The dancer is
fantastic. Deep reds. Deep blacks. Skin. Duende.
Milton, sitting beside some blonde he's discovered, he's
got his jacket off, clapping perfectly to the beat.
Behind him, a large table of ten/fifteen people. Food
and wine to excess. Laughter and music and...
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 78.
128 INT. SPANISH RESTAURANT - PHONE AND ROOM - NIGHT 128
Kevin on a pay phone near the kitchen.
KEVIN
And say what? He's the senior
partner at the --
(pause)
Mare, you're really starting to
piss me off --
(pause)
Yes. I'm having one cigarette.
You want me to lie? One cigarette
after seven months is not --
(pause)
That's exactly what I'm saying.
Go to bed. I have no idea.
(pause)
I told you, he never sleeps.
(pause)
Mare. Stop. The guy pays our
bills. The food, the heat, the
rent on that enormous fucking
apartment we live in.
(beat)
I live there, too!
CLICK. The LINE is dead. He looks at the cigarette.
Takes a hit. Fuck it. And then his eyes find --
The dressing room across the hall. An open door.
Inside, a woman, one of the dancers, all but nude,
stepping into her dress. A simply perfect body.
And then she turns TOWARD us and it's Christabella --
clearly -- for a single moment -- before she slams shut
the door.
Kevin crosses to the door. Knocks. And again.
The door opens. A DANCER standing there. It's not
Christabella.
DANCER
Can I help you?
Kevin already backing toward --
128A INT. SPANISH RESTAURANT - NIGHT 128
Kevin moving toward the Milton table. Sitting down and
just realizing that --
Cullen has joined the party. He's wasted. He waves.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 79.
128A CONTINUED: 128A
Milton catching Kevin's eye, smiling as the Blonde slips
below the table. As if nothing were going on.
CUT TO:
129 OMITTED 129
thru thru
132 132
133 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - NIGHT (LATE) 133
Dark. Mary Ann asleep in a chair. A breeze through the
open terrace windows. Suddenly she wakes.
MARY ANN
Kevin?
Silence. And then, the sound of a BABY CRYING...
CUT TO:
134 INT. LOMAX NURSERY HALLWAY - NIGHT 134
Mary Ann rushing through the dark, toward the nursery and
the sound of the CRYING -- stopping suddenly at the
nursery door --
MARY ANN
How...? What are you...?
135 INT. LOMAX NURSERY AND HALL - NIGHT 135
A one-year-old child sits naked on the floor amidst the
tools and material.
MARY ANN
You poor thing...
Mary Ann easing slowly forward.
MARY ANN
How did you... how did you get
here?
(billing and cooing)
Are you okay? Look at you...
hello... hello...
(kneeling there)
Where's your mommy?
The baby turns to her voice. Smiling now.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 80.
135 CONTINUED: 135
MARY ANN
What are you playing with? What
do you have there?
The baby offers his open hands --
Viscera. Entrails and blood and slime. The child's
hands full of someone's insides...
MARY ANN
... Oh, God, no...
The baby raising his hands toward her --
MARY ANN
... no... please, God, no --
Stopping suddenly as she looks down at her body. Her
nightgown is covered with blood. Just starting to scream,
as we --
HARD CUT TO:
136 OMITTED 136
thru thru
142 142
143 INT. HEATH GUEST ROOM AND HALL - DAY 143
Motion -- Kevin rushing down a hallway -- Heath behind
him -- heading for an open door and into --
144 INT. HEATH GUEST ROOM AND HALL - DAY 144
Mary Ann in bed. Dead asleep. Jackie Heath, bedside
nurse.
JACKIE
Took two seconals to get her out.
KEVIN
(hung-over and guilty)
Milton got his hooks into me.
HEATH
Relax. We've all been there.
JACKIE
Leave her with me. Let her sleep.
She'll be out another five, six
hours at least.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 81.
144 CONTINUED: 144
KEVIN
This transition, it's been really
tough on her...
HEATH
We're gonna find some names for
you. Doctors. Good people.
Kevin nods. Jackie ushering them out, as we --
CUT TO:
144A EXT. NY - DAY/NIGHT 144A
New York time transition -- MOS.
145 EXT. LAW FIRM STREET - DAY 145
Pamela and three other women smoking. Looking up, as
Kevin comes flying out of the building.
PAM
Caught me.
KEVIN
I've gotta find Cullen.
(as he passes)
We just got the prosecution
discovery package.
PAM
That bad?
Kevin just keeps going into --
146 EXT. LAW FIRM STREET - DAY 146
Kevin needs a taxi -- bingo -- a cab -- dropping off
right here -- he's got it -- opening the door and --
CHRISTABELLA
Careful...
(stepping out)
You'll spoil me for other men.
KEVIN
That's what they all say.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 82.
146 CONTINUED: 146
CHRISTABELLA
Heard he finally dragged you out
the other night...
(as she walks)
Can't believe I missed it.
Kevin watching her go, looking up, seeing the glass bridge
high above.
CUT TO:
147 INT. NEW YORK SIDE STREET - DAY 147
A limousine double-parked outside a brownstone. Kevin
standing there as Cullen comes storming out of the
building.
CULLEN
I get one supervised hour a week
with my stepdaughter. This is it.
You better have a great reason to
call me out.
KEVIN
Your wife, the day she was killed,
had lunch with a friend. She says
and I quote: 'Alex is fucking
around and I can prove it.'
CULLEN
Hearsay. Never gets in.
KEVIN
Wrong answer.
(listen to me)
Your prenuptial agreement is on
file at the firm. The contract is
null and void in the event of
marital infidelity.
(beat)
You fuck around, she gets rich.
(you asshole)
That's a motive, Alex.
(long pause)
What do I need to know?
CULLEN
Melissa. My assistant.
(such a headache)
She's not even that good a fuck.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 83.
147 CONTINUED: 147
KEVIN
And, on the night in question?
CULLEN
I was boning my assistant while my
wife was getting shot.
KEVIN
I've got to re-interview Melissa.
CULLEN
Forget it. We're not telling that
story.
KEVIN
Juries want honesty. Fuck with
that at your peril.
Cullen turns -- something more important --
CULLEN
Allesandra. Wait...
Allesandra emerging from the building looking teary and
distraught. Her THERAPIST helping her toward the limo.
KEVIN
Arthur...
CULLEN
Not now.
THERAPIST
Time's up, Mr. Cullen.
CULLEN
Allesandra. Please...
Kevin watching Cullen rush away, as we --
CUT TO:
148 OMITTED 148
thru thru
151 151
151A EXT. NY - DAY/NIGHT 151A
New York time transition -- MOS.
152 OMITTED 152
thru thru
155 155
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 84.
155A EXT. LOMAX APARTMENT BUILDING - SIDEWALK - NIGHT 155A
A Towncar pulls up. Mary Ann, Kevin and Mrs. Lomax
emerge. Just back from dinner. Two steps and --
A PAPARAZZI photographer nearby --
PAPARAZZI
Kevin, hey, how's it going? Can
we get a couple shots here? How
about a thumbs-up here? What do
you say?
Kevin reluctantly smiles. Get it over with.
MRS. LOMAX
What's he doing?
MARY ANN
Kevin's had his picture in the
paper.
FEENEY, the doorman, at the ready. Mary Ann first inside.
Mrs. Lomax lingers a moment watching Kevin have his
picture taken.
KEVIN
Welcome to Babylon, Ma.
FEENEY
Sorry, Mr. Lomax, I thought we'd
scared 'em all away...
MRS. LOMAX
Always did like to stick his nose
in a camera.
156 INT. LOMAX LOBBY - ENTRANCE - NIGHT 156
FEENEY
(as they enter)
And how are you, Mrs. Lomax? Did
you have a fine dinner?
MRS. LOMAX
I surely did.
(she's got a
doggie bag)
Are you hungry?
FEENEY
No, I'm fine. Thank you.
MILTON (O.S.)
Speak of the devil...
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 85/86.
156 CONTINUED: 156
There he is, waiting for the elevator. With him are
Christabella and an Asian woman who is so sexy it hurts.
Kevin off balance from this moment on.
Mary Ann smells the danger. Everything is awkward.
MILTON
I was just telling the Moyez
story.
KEVIN
Really.
MILTON
And is this your mother?
KEVIN
Yes. Mom, this is...
MILTON
John Milton. Nice to meet you.
MRS. LOMAX
Alice Lomax. How do you do?
MILTON
Mary Ann...
(a kiss for her)
I think you've met Christabella,
and this is Giselle who's just in
from Paris.
A moment of bullshit superficial greetings and then --
the elevator doors opening and the whole uncomfortable
clot of them moving into --
157 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT ELEVATOR - NIGHT 157
Just enough room. They ascend.
KEVIN
Thanks for the champagne.
MILTON
You've very welcome.
(to Mrs. Lomax)
This isn't really your first visit
to New York, is it?
KEVIN
(after a moment)
Yes.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 87.
157 CONTINUED: 157
GISELLE
Cette femme, elle est la mere de
l'homme dont vous m'avez parle?
MILTON
She can't believe you're his
mother. You've done one helluva
job bringing him up, Mrs. Lomax.
I'm sure it wasn't easy.
MRS. LOMAX
No.
Mrs. Lomax has been staring, and now Milton meets her
eyes as the elevator stops and the doors open.
MARY ANN
Nice to see you...
CHRISTABELLA
Have a lovely evening.
Kevin next out, holding the door, waiting --
KEVIN
Mom, we're here...
MRS. LOMAX
Yes. Good night to you.
Mrs. Lomax takes one last look at Milton as she exits.
MILTON
Kevin, hang on...
(holding the door)
How's Cullen. Everything on beam?
KEVIN
That's a long conversation.
In the b.g., Mary Ann opening the apartment door and
going inside. Mrs. Lomax right behind her.
MILTON
(hush hush)
Why don't you come on up?
KEVIN
Now?
Milton smiles. Christabella smiles. Giselle smiles.
KEVIN
Let's talk tomorrow.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 88.
157 CONTINUED: (2) 157
Milton shrugs. Your loss. Christabella has her hand on
Giselle's ass, working up her skirt --
MILTON
You sure?
Kevin left standing there as the doors close.
CUT TO:
158 OMITTED 158
thru thru
161 161
162 INT. LOMAX KITCHEN - NIGHT (ONE MINUTE LATER) 162
Mrs. Lomax, subdued, listening to Kevin and Mary Ann
bickering.
MARY ANN
That what you're doing when you're
working late?
KEVIN
What are we talking about?
MARY ANN
You know exactly what I'm talking
about.
KEVIN
That's ridiculous.
MARY ANN
I'm going to bed.
(walking off)
'Night, Alice...
MRS. LOMAX
'Night.
Mary Ann exits.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 89.
162 CONTINUED: 162
MRS. LOMAX
I'm worried about her. You
shouldn't fight like that.
KEVIN
That's not a fight, Ma, it's
marriage. Not exactly your area
of expertise.
MRS. LOMAX
Are you happy here?
KEVIN
What?
MRS. LOMAX
Are you happy here?
KEVIN
You're kidding, right? Am I happy?
Every now and then I look around
and I think my mama must be praying
awful hard for me, 'cause I died
and went to heaven. Am I happy?
MRS. LOMAX
You were always running somewhere.
KEVIN
I guess I finally got there.
(sensing something
wrong)
Look, I'm sorry about being so
busy this week. Maybe Saturday I
can get some time off and...
MRS. LOMAX
Don't worry on it.
(touching his face)
I love you more than anything in
the whole world. You know that,
don't you?
KEVIN
I love you too, Ma.
Kevin turning out the lights, as we --
CUT TO:
163 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - FOYER/HALL - DAY 163
Newspapers. Laying on the doorstep. Headline reads:
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 90.
163 CONTINUED: 163
CULLEN PRE-NUP SHOCKER!
Kevin, dressed for work, briefcase in hand, rushing down
a cup of coffee, reading the headline and --
KEVIN
Shit!
The door to the guest room is open. He looks in --
164 OMITTED 164
165 INT. LOMAX GUEST ROOM - DAY 165
Mrs. Lomax fully dressed. The bed is made. Her bag is
packed.
KEVIN
Mom? Ma, what are you doing?
MRS. LOMAX
I'm going home, Kevin.
KEVIN
What? What are you talking about?
MRS. LOMAX
I don't feel right.
KEVIN
You just got here.
(his watch)
Look, I'm late and I just got my
teeth kicked in on the front page,
so I gotta run. We'll talk later.
MRS. LOMAX
I have to go, Kevin. I miss my
church.
KEVIN
Ma, this is New York, there must
be twenty-thousand goddamn
churches. Take your pick.
MRS. LOMAX
You need to do a better job with
Mary Ann. She's not well. This
place isn't good for her.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 91.
165 CONTINUED: 165
KEVIN
So stay. Take care of her if
you're so concerned! Help me out.
MRS. LOMAX
I'll take her home if you let me.
KEVIN
This is home. You understand?
This is where we live! I'm not
going back to Gainesville.
Unbelievable.
MRS. LOMAX
'Wide is the gate, and broad is
the way that leadeth to
temptation.'
KEVIN
It's a little early for scripture.
I'm going to work.
(as he walks)
You can do whatever you want.
Mrs. Lomax watching him go, as we --
CUT TO:
166 EXT. CENTRAL PARK PLAYGROUND - DAY 166
Melissa and Kevin on a bench. Kids playing. One of them
is hers, but she's not paying much attention at the
moment --
MELISSA
I can't do it. It's one thing to
have an affair with your boss,
it's another to have to tell the
world in a murder case.
KEVIN
We have to bring it out, Melissa.
MELISSA
My ex-husband would have a field
day with this.
KEVIN
A man's life is at stake. You're
our whole case.
Melissa looking away, as we --
CUT TO:
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 92.
167 INT. WEAVER FEDERAL COURTROOM - DAY 167
Modern. Empty. The JUDGE is a WOMAN. No bullshit.
Barzoon sitting alone at the defense table. Federal
prosecutor MITCHELL WEAVER on his feet.
WEAVER
... there is nothing vague or
exploratory about this subpoena
request, Your Honor. We're
specifically asking for any and
all documents relating to Devada
Holdings. It's taken six months
and seventeen separate motions and
we still don't know who's
responsible here. We've got a
paper trail here that seems to
stretch into eternity!
WOMAN JUDGE
Mr. Barzoon?
BARZOON
Can't turn over what you don't
have, Your Honor. We've been
conducting a comprehensive search
of our records and I'm sorry to
say it's a great deal less than
Mr. Weaver would suggest.
WEAVER
Your Honor, this is outrageous.
We need to get in there and seize
these documents before there's
nothing left!
BARZOON
Your Honor, it's exactly these
types of insulting accusations --
WOMAN JUDGE
Enough. Both of you. Put it on
paper. I'll read it.
WEAVER
Your Honor...
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 10/22/96 93.
167 CONTINUED: 167
But the gavel comes down. Done. Barzoon packing up,
looks to the back of the room.
Kevin sitting there. Waiting.
CUT TO:
168 INT. WEAVER FEDERAL COURT - HALL - DAY (MINUTES LATER) 168
Busy. Lots of traffic. Barzoon and Kevin walking.
BARZOON
Forget about lunch. This guy
Weaver is running me ragged.
A REPORTER pulls up alongside -- excited --
REPORTER
Kevin. Nancy Osborne, Metro News.
How are you?
KEVIN
Busy.
REPORTER
We had a report of a private plane
at Teterboro airport ready to take
Alexander Cullen out of the coun --
KEVIN
(cutting her off)
Mr. Cullen is innocent. He's not
going anywhere. He's been
released on a two million dollar
bond. He looks forward to having
his day in court. Thank you.
REPORTER
Kevin, is there any truth to --
KEVIN
I'm in the middle of a meeting.
Call my office. Schedule an
interview. Or else forget it.
Barzoon is getting away. Kevin hustling to catch up.
KEVIN
I'm picking a jury tomorrow.
BARZOON
You're good at that.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 10/22/96 94.
168 CONTINUED: 168
KEVIN
You're not gonna have time to help
me on Cullen, are you?
BARZOON
No.
Just then, Weaver comes rumbling past --
WEAVER
Devada Holdings, Eddie. Look in
your rearview window, I'm right
behind you.
Before he can answer -- ANOTHER REPORTER swoops in --
REPORTER #2
Kevin, Chuck Higgery, Action News.
Have you spoken with Alex Cullen
concerning the D.A.'s report...
Kevin turns to see two more REPORTERS jogging over.
REPORTER #3
Kevin, just a statement --
And a photographer -- Kevin under siege and --
BARZOON
(backing away)
Gotta go.
Barzoon escaping as reporters begin to materialize from
all sides, and we --
CUT TO:
169 INT. LOMAX LIVING ROOM - NIGHT 169
Dark. Quiet. Mary Ann in her chair. She looks like
hell. Eyes red from crying. Kevin has just come home
and found her like this.
MARY ANN
I dreamt about this.
(beat)
Right here.
(beat)
It's not a dream if it's true.
KEVIN
Tell me this is the medication.
(CONTINUED)
95.
169 CONTINUED: 169
MARY ANN
You won't stay with me now.
KEVIN
Look, let's get you undressed and
in the tub. Okay?
MARY ANN
You won't stay. I know you.
You'll leave me now for sure.
(as he moves to
comfort her -- )
Get-away-from-me!
KEVIN
Okay. I'm confused.
(furious)
Why? What is it now? What the
fuck is it today, Mare? I swear
to God, I'm calling this doctor,
I'm gonna find out what the hell
they're giving you.
MARY ANN
They took my ovaries. I told you!
(tears now)
My sisters have seven children
between them. My mother had Derek
when she was forty-five. You
could set a clock by my periods.
KEVIN
What are you talking about?
MARY ANN
I can't have children!
KEVIN
Says who?
MARY ANN
The doctor! The other doctor. I
was there today.
(beat)
Non-specific ovarian failure.
KEVIN
That's ridiculous.
The PHONE begins to RING across the room.
MARY ANN
(grabbing his arm)
I know you. You'll leave me.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 96.
169 CONTINUED: (2) 169
KEVIN
Mary Ann...
MARY ANN
It's these monsters, Kevin.
(losing it)
I dreamt this...
The PHONE keeps RINGING. Kevin will finally pull away.
Answering the phone O.S., quietly conducting business as
Mary Ann falls apart.
CUT TO:
170 EXT. FOLEY SQUARE - DAY 170
Kevin on a cell phone walking with Milton.
KEVIN
Uh huh. For sleep. And she can
take that during the day?
(beat)
No, she won't be driving.
(beat)
I'm gonna have the pharmacy call
you right back. Thanks.
(hangs up, sags
against the car)
He thinks, he's not sure, he
thinks it could be some kind of
hormonal imbalance.
MILTON
I'm taking you off the case.
KEVIN
What?
MILTON
I want you to drop this case.
KEVIN
This case? Cullen?
(incredulous)
John, I've got a jury showing up
this morning.
MILTON
Do you love this woman?
KEVIN
Yes. Of course I do.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 10/22/96 97.
170 CONTINUED: 170
MILTON
Kevin, she's sick. Everyone will
understand. I'll understand.
KEVIN
(stunned)
What about Cullen?
MILTON
We'll find someone new. You
consult. You live to fight
another day.
KEVIN
I put together a great jury.
MILTON
It's a disappointment. We all
have them. Embrace it. Use it.
You move on.
KEVIN
Hang on, we gotta talk about
this.
MILTON
What's to talk? It's your wife,
man. And she's very sick. And
that's gotta come first.
(beat)
Are you telling me the possibility
of leaving the case has never
crossed your mind?
KEVIN
You know what scares me? I quit
the case. She gets better. And I
hate her for it.
(silence)
I don't want to resent her, John.
I've got a winner here. I gotta
nail this fucker down, do it
fast, and put it behind me.
Just get it done. Then put all
my energy into her.
MILTON
I guess you have thought about it.
I stand corrected.
CUT TO:
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 98.
171 INT. CULLEN COURTROOM - DAY 171
Packed. JUDGE ARMAND POE presiding. Cullen seated with
Kevin and Pam. The jury in their box. And prosecutor FRANK
BROYGO on his feet, just wrapping up his opening statement --
BROYGO
... And when all that evidence is
laid before you, when all these
pieces weave together, you will
conclude -- you will know -- that
Alexander Cullen is guilty of
murdering three people in cold
blood with malice aforethought.
Done. The courtroom is silent. The jury liked him.
JUDGE POE
Mr. Lomax...
(checking his watch)
We can break for lunch now, or you
can do a stop and start...
KEVIN
If it's a choice, I'll go now. I
won't be as long as Mr. Broygo.
JUDGE POE
Proceed.
KEVIN
We just spent our morning listening
to Mr. Broygo talk about his
'evidence'. What he neglected to
tell you is what this case is
really about. He left out the most
important fact of all: Alex Cullen
was somewhere else when these
murders took place. Now, Alex
Cullen has done a lot of things I
don't like. He's been a terrible
husband to all three of his wives.
He's been a destructive force in
the lives of his step-children.
He's cheated the city. His partners.
His employees. He's paid hundreds of
thousands of dollars in penalties and
fines over the years. I don't like
those things. I don't expect you to
like them. There will be other things
during the course of this trial that
you will hear about and like even
less. But this isn't a popularity
contest. It's a murder trial and
Alex Cullen hasn't killed anybody.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/15/96 99.
171 CONTINUED: 171
KEVIN (CONT'D)
The state is going all out here.
They've got a whole team over
there. They're throwing
everything but the kitchen sink
at this case. I need one thing
from you. That's it. One thing.
I need you to ask yourself, 'Is
not liking this man reason
enough to convict him of
murder?'
(beat)
Enjoy your lunch. We'll talk
again.
Stunned silence, and then --
HARD CUT TO:
172 INT. COURTHOUSE - SMALL CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY 172
Kevin thrown back against a wall --
CULLEN
What the fuck was that? Are you
out of your fucking mind?
(murderous)
They fucking hate me!
Kevin -- one push -- Cullen sent flying.
KEVIN
Listen to me like you've never
listened to anybody before. I'm
going to bust my ass to make sure
they hate you. Because as long as
you're out boning Melissa, you're
not home killing your wife.
CULLEN
(pause, as he warms
to the idea)
Why didn't you tell me before?
KEVIN
Then it doesn't look spontaneous.
CUT TO:
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 100.
173 INT. CULLEN COURTROOM - DAY 173
A Forensic TECHNICIAN on the stand. A display chart
beside him.
Blowups of the bloody hand-prints.
KEVIN
Let me put it this way, then: can
you tell from a blood sample if
the person were alive or dead?
TECHNICIAN
The victim? Of course not.
KEVIN
And there's a two hour window in
which to place these murders.
TECHNICIAN
Yes.
KEVIN
So, you've got absolutely no way
to determine the condition of the
victims when Alexander Cullen put
his hand on that wall.
CUT TO:
174 OMITTED 174
& &
175 175
176 EXT. CARNEGIE HILL GROCERY - LATE AFTERNOON 176
Kevin into the evening air, carrying a bag of stuff.
Barzoon standing there in a jogging suit. Furious.
KEVIN
Eddie...
BARZOON
Saw you go in.
KEVIN
What's up?
BARZOON
(cold)
Congratulations.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 101.
176 CONTINUED: 176
KEVIN
It's not over yet.
BARZOON
I'm not talking about the trial.
KEVIN
What are you talking about?
BARZOON
How the fuck does your name get on
the firm's charter?
KEVIN
What?
BARZOON
Looks like it's been there for
years. Now you're a partner?
When did that happen? I am
still the managing director of this
firm. You want my job? Take me
head on. Backdoor me one more time
and I'll take your partnership papers
and stuff 'em down your throat.
KEVIN
I don't know what you're talking
about, but I sure as hell don't
like your tone of voice.
BARZOON
Bullshit.
KEVIN
You got a problem with documents,
I suggest you put together one of
your late-night shredding
sessions.
BARZOON
You think you're tough enough to
run this firm? Fine.
(backing away)
You tell Milton next time Weaver
calls maybe I pick up the phone.
(CONTINUED)
102.
176 CONTINUED: (2) 176
Kevin standing there, watching him jog away, as we --
CUT TO:
177 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - DUSK 177
Kevin sitting there with his bag of groceries. Milton
looking sadly perplexed --
MILTON
Was he drunk?
KEVIN
I doubt it. He was going running.
What the hell was he talking
about?
MILTON
Eddie's gotten himself into
trouble again. And he wants me to
save him. And I can't.
KEVIN
Why does he think I'm after his
job?
MILTON
Do you have any experience with
manic-depression?
KEVIN
Not directly, no.
MILTON
You do now.
Milton already on the phone. Punching a number.
MILTON
Yes, it's me.
(beat)
Get Eddie Barzoon. Right away.
He may be out running, so page him
if you have to. It's an
emergency.
(hangs up, turns
back to Kevin)
Looks like you could use a drink.
CUT TO:
103.
178 INT. LOMAX APARTMENT - DUSK 178
Mary Ann coming through the living room. She looks
stoned. But moving with purpose. As if she were hearing
something. Opening the terrace doors and staring out
over the park, as we --
CUT TO:
179 EXT. CENTRAL PARK RESERVOIR - DUSK 179
The reservoir entrance. It's a nice night and busy with
runners and bikes and --
Barzoon comes jogging past.
CUT TO:
180 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - DUSK 180
Kevin has a vodka in his hand.
MARY ANN
Eddie Barzoon.
(wearily)
I've nursed him through two
divorces, a cocaine rehab, and a
pregnant receptionist.
(beat)
God's creature, right?
CUT TO:
181 EXT. CENTRAL PARK - RESERVOIR - DUSK 181
No leaves on the trees. Barzoon running. Breaking a
sweat now. Leaving the heavy traffic behind.
CUT TO:
182 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - DUSK 182
MILTON
I'll tell you, Kevin, because I
know you're into theology. When
you've seen -- when you've
represented -- when you've dealt
with as many people as I have over
the years, finally you say to
yourself, 'God must've been
awfully bored.'
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 104.
182 CONTINUED: 182
MILTON (CONT'D)
(beat)
Choice. The opportunity to fuck
up. Talk about entertainment
value.
CUT TO:
183 EXT. CENTRAL PARK - RESERVOIR - DUSK 183
Barzoon running. Into his pace.
Glancing down and on the horsepath below.
184 EXT. CENTRAL PARK - RESERVOIR - DUSK 184
Three running shadows. Side-by-side. Just passing
beneath an iron bridge.
MILTON (V.O.)
You take a look at Eddie Barzoon
you gotta wonder if maybe God
overplayed his hand. Maybe he
made the game a little too
interesting...
184A EXT. CENTRAL PARK - RESERVOIR - DUSK 184A
Barzoon turns back -- stumbles -- catches himself --
sprinting now to the Pump House. He pulls up here.
Resting as several other runners pass by. Glancing back,
almost an afterthought and --
184B EXT. CENTRAL PARK - RESERVOIR - DUSK 184B
Those three running shadows are now crossing the bridge
which is completely impossible considering where they
just were a moment ago and --
184C EXT. CENTRAL PARK - RESERVOIR - DUSK 184C
Barzoon starts running again -- instinctively -- faster
than before -- glancing back and --
184D EXT. CENTRAL PARK - RESERVOIR (FX) - DUSK 184D
(EFX) The three shadows. The sun setting behind them.
Transforming as they run -- animal shapes mixing with the
harsh silhouettes of bare trees and --
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 105.
185 EXT. CENTRAL PARK - RESERVOIR - DUSK 185
Barzoon freaked -- What the fuck was that? -- The park
suddenly looking very empty -- and dark --
186 EXT. CENTRAL PARK - RESERVOIR - DUSK 186
The three shadows and they're closer and weirder and --
186A EXT. CENTRAL PARK TREE - DUSK 186A
Barzoon -- suddenly turning -- changing course -- leaving
the path -- into the woods -- quickly ducking down beside
a huge sycamore tree. Hiding. Sweating. Scared.
Staring back out at the path --
186B EXT. CENTRAL PARK - RESERVOIR - DUSK 186B
Three women runners -- clear as day -- pass beneath a
streetlight. Team clothes. Machine-like strides. Flat-
out. And then gone.
187 EXT. CENTRAL PARK TREE - DUSK 187
Barzoon stands from behind the sycamore tree. Relief.
Smiling at his own stupidity. What a jerk. Dusting off.
Heading back toward the path, when --
188 EXT. CENTRAL PARK TREE - DUSK 188
Suddenly, there's an arm around his neck -- throwing him
to the ground --
189 EXT. CENTRAL PARK TREE - DUSK 189
Standing there above him, a crazed-looking homeless
MAN -- he's white and old and hungry --
OLD MAN
Gimme your watch.
BARZOON
(standing now)
You want the watch, old man? Come
and get it.
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 106.
190 EXT. CENTRAL PARK TREE - DUSK 190
Barzoon moving toward the old guy when -- Crack! -- A
tree branch swings out of nowhere -- catching his
elbow -- snapping it back and --
A second homeless man. He's black and older than the
first guy but just as wild and dangerous and he's winding
up to swing the branch again and --
Barzoon on his knees -- dazed -- blood pouring from his
head -- uncomprehending eyes watching these park
creatures tear at his clothes --
191 EXT. CENTRAL PARK TREE - DUSK 191
(EFX) Watching them grow more feral and less human by the
moment and --
CUT TO:
192 EXT. LOMAX TERRACE - DUSK 192
Mary Ann staring out at the park. Covering her ears
against some horrible sound that she alone can hear.
CUT TO:
193 EXT. CENTRAL PARK TREE - DUSK 193
Barzoon -- on his belly -- in the dirt -- trying to
move -- crawl -- anything --
194 EXT. CENTRAL PARK TREE - DUSK 194
The two men beating Barzoon to death with stones --
195 EXT. CENTRAL PARK TREE (FX) - DUSK 195
-- transforming with every blow -- (EFX) as their hands
descend they become terrifying, demonic creatures, and as
they rise we see them as men and over and over, as we
hear --
CUT TO:
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 107/108.
196 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - DUSK 196
MILTON (V.O.)
You take a look at Eddie Barzoon
you gotta wonder if maybe God
overplayed his hand. Maybe he
made the game a little too
interesting.
Milton turns to find Kevin staring at him.
KEVIN
I'm gonna, I'm gonna go downstairs
now. Put this stuff away.
(backing away
with his bag
of groceries)
Ice cream's already melting.
Milton watching him walk away, as we --
CUT TO:
197 INT. LAW FIRM - PAM'S OFFICE AND HALL - DAY 197
Pam exits the room. Melissa sitting at the head of the
table. Kevin pacing around her. They are alone.
Practicing her testimony over early morning coffee.
KEVIN
You testified that the defendant
called you at four-thirty to ask
you to come to his office gym for
the purposes of sex.
MELISSA
Yes.
KEVIN
Mr. Cullen, though, he's not just
your lover, is he? He's the boss.
MELISSA
Yes.
KEVIN
So two hours go by before you act
on his request?
(CONTINUED)
109.
197 CONTINUED: 197
MELISSA
Yes, I went up at six-ten. I knew
it was six-ten, they had weather
coming on the news. I remember --
Cut off by --
KEVIN
Okay. Stop.
(breaking character)
This prosecutor is no fool. He's
gonna change tempo, attitude, tone
of voice -- he's gonna come out
with questions you never thought
of, just to screw you up.
(coaching)
So what do we do?
MELISSA
Yes and no answers. Stay calm.
KEVIN
Exactly.
(back into it)
Is it your testimony, Ms. Block,
that between the hours of six-ten
and nine-forty you were engaged in
sexual congress with the
defendant?
MELISSA
Yes.
KEVIN
At any point during this three
hour marathon, Ms. Block, did you
lose sight of the defendant?
MELISSA
No.
KEVIN
Did he use the bathroom?
MELISSA
Yes.
KEVIN
Is he circumcised?
(silence)
You understand the question?
MELISSA
Yes.
(CONTINUED)
110.
197 CONTINUED: (2) 197
KEVIN
So is he cut or not?
MELISSA
Yes.
KEVIN
Which is it?
Silence. Melissa looks away.
KEVIN
You've been polishing his knob
three times a week for six months
and you don't know whether or not
he's got foreskin?
MELISSA
(total transformation)
I've had it up to here with this
fucking game. Why don't you take
your questions and shove 'em up
your ass.
Kevin staring at her. Looking away. Moving quickly for
the door, and into:
198 INT. LAW FIRM LIBRARY HALL - DAY 198
Three steps out and he stops. Something's wrong. Very
wrong. People are out of their offices, standing in the
doorways. Some of them crying.
Christabella rushes toward him, into his arms --
CHRISTABELLA
Oh, Kevin --
KEVIN
What's happened?
CHRISTABELLA
Eddie Barzoon...
KEVIN
What about him?
CHRISTABELLA
He's dead. He was killed.
KEVIN
When?
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 111.
198 CONTINUED: 198
Heath nearby has more answers --
HEATH
Last night in the park. He was
running if you can believe it.
Kevin standing there, holding Christabella. Feeling heat
on the back of his neck and turning to find Milton at the
far end of the hall. Their eyes lock --
CHRISTABELLA (O.S.)
What is wrong with people?
HEATH (O.S.)
At least they got the scumbags who
did it.
KEVIN
(turning on this)
Who?
LAWYER #1
Two old, homeless crazies.
Pam coming through the hallway like steel --
PAM
Kevin... Kevin, I'm sorry, but
you're due in court in thirty
minutes.
As Melissa appears in the conference room door --
MELISSA
Are we through here, or what?
PAM
I'll bring Melissa down in the
car, but you better get going.
CUT TO:
199 INT. SUBWAY TO COURT - DAY 199
SCREAMING uptown. Kevin looking very rattled. Milton,
beside him. Talking him down.
MILTON
I want you to put Eddie aside.
Let me worry about it. You gotta
deal with Cullen now. Marshal
your strength. Prioritize.
Conserve your energy.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 112.
199 CONTINUED: 199
KEVIN
I can't put her on the stand.
MILTON
What choice do we have?
KEVIN
I know she's lying.
MILTON
Because she didn't answer you fast
enough? Did she lie to you? No.
She said nothing. The fact is,
you'll never know.
KEVIN
He killed those people.
MILTON
You really believe that?
KEVIN
Cullen set me up. Melissa, the
whole thing, I know it.
MILTON
Look, you gotta go with your gut.
KEVIN
That's your advice?
MILTON
I'll back you either way. Hey,
you think I haven't lost before?
(pause)
We talked about this, Kevin.
Pressure. Take a big whiff.
Kevin unreadable. The SUBWAY CAR RATTLING away.
CUT TO:
200 INT. CULLEN COURTROOM - DAY 200
Packed and ready.
JUDGE POE
Mr. Lomax, you may call your next
witness.
(CONTINUED)
113.
200 CONTINUED: 200
A long, awful pause. Kevin in agony. Milton behind him.
Cullen and Pamela and everyone waiting...
JUDGE POE
Counselor...
KEVIN
I call Melissa Block.
CUT TO:
201 INT. COURT - HALL - DAY 201
Chaos! -- media madness -- Kevin pushing past dozens of
reporters and camera crews -- court officers trying to
clear the way -- fifteen voices screaming at once --
questions flying like shrapnel -- Cullen, all smiles,
alongside Milton as they're pushed along -- Pam, waving a
cell phone, fighting her way to Kevin and --
PAM
Kevin!
(re the phone)
Kevin, it's for you --
Kevin takes the phone, trying to hear above the noise.
CUT TO:
202 EXT. LOMAX BUILDING AND STREET - DAY 202
A cab speeds to a stop. Kevin jumps out. Feeney, the
doorman, standing there with Felix, his partner.
FEENEY
She didn't look well, sir. Felix
tried to talk to her, but she --
KEVIN
Where is she?
CUT TO:
203 EXT. MADISON AVENUE AND CHURCH - DAY 203
Kevin running down the sidewalk and --
CUT TO:
114.
204 INT. CHURCH - DAY 204
Kevin enters. It's empty and dark. Two old ladies up
front. Mary Ann in back, wrapped in a comforter.
KEVIN
Honey...
(sitting
beside her)
Mare. It's me.
MARY ANN
He let himself in. You need to
know that. The bath running, or
something, I didn't hear him. I
swear to you.
KEVIN
Who?
MARY ANN
Then we talked. We talked for
hours.
(coming apart
for good)
I haven't talked to anyone, really
talked to anyone in such a long
time. You have this whole life
and all I have is me and he was so
clear about it all.
KEVIN
Who let himself in?
MARY ANN
I came down here. I've just been
sitting. I'm afraid to pray. I
let him stay. I'm sorry. I'm
sorry. I'm sorry, Kevin.
KEVIN
Did somebody hurt you?
MARY ANN
Milton. He fucked me, Kevin. I
let him fuck me. I couldn't stop
him.
KEVIN
What? When?
MARY ANN
Today. This afternoon. All
afternoon. God, I'm so ashamed...
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 115.
204 CONTINUED: 204
KEVIN
Today? Today? Today. He was in
court, Mare. He was in court, in
my presence all afternoon!
MARY ANN
(sobbing)
I'm not crazy. I'm not. I swear.
KEVIN
I don't know, Mare. I don't know
how much more of this I can take.
She stands. Throws open the comforter. She is naked.
There are scratch marks all over her body.
CUT TO:
205 INT. HOSPITAL CUBICLE - NIGHT 205
Kevin with a NURSE and paperwork.
NURSE
Sign there... And there... And one
more...
(as he's done)
She's calm now so this might be a
good time to say good night.
Kevin nods. Stands, moving now -- into --
206 INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY - NIGHT 206
Mary Ann on a moving gurney. Calm now, in the sway of
some very strong drugs. Kevin kneels beside her.
MARY ANN
I know why this is happening.
KEVIN
They want you to go to sleep.
MARY ANN
It's the money, Kevin. Blood
money. We just drank it down.
Both of us. We knew it. Winning
those cases, taking the money. We
knew they were guilty. But you
kept winning. Every time.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 116.
206 CONTINUED: 206
MARY ANN (CONT'D)
(fading)
I can't look at myself in the
mirror, Kevin.
CUT TO:
207 EXT. CATHOLIC CHURCH - DAY 207
A big one. A funereal morning. Hearse and cortege
parked on the street outside.
CUT TO:
208 INT. CATHOLIC CHURCH - DAY 208
Barzoon's funeral. Big deal. Big crowd. An excess of
flowers. ORGAN MUSIC as foreplay. Milton, up front,
seating Diana and children.
Kevin seated on the aisle. Beside him, Jack Heath.
JACKIE
What do they say?
KEVIN
They don't know. It's bad. She's
falling apart.
CHRISTABELLA (O.S.)
Do you have room for one more?
Kevin turns to see Christabella standing beside him.
Jackie's concerned expression blossoms into a private,
knowing smile now that Kevin has turned away.
Christabella squeezes in, as the MUSIC SWELLS and THE
PRIEST walks solemnly to the altar. Kevin caught in a
high-intensity sexual cross-fire between Jackie and
Christabella. He's tense. He's flipping out.
209 INT. CATHOLIC CHURCH - DAY 209
Milton passes on his way to the back. Smiles.
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 11/2/96 117.
210 INT. CATHOLIC CHURCH - DAY 210
On one side the Therapist, on the other Allesandra, except
she looks different than last we saw her. Hair down.
Makeup. She could be all of seventeen.
THE PRIEST
We are here today, to remember and
pray and exalt in the spirit of
Edward Barzoon...
Kevin staring at Cullen and the girl.
THE PRIEST
... Father, husband, partner,
friend, colleague...
211 INT. CATHOLIC CHURCH - DAY 211
(EFX) Cullen's hand stroking at the back of the pew --
nothing outrageous, except it does call to mind the hand
of Mr. Gettys back in Florida --
THE PRIEST
... taken from us so suddenly...
Cullen's hand moving with purpose -- stopping --
waiting -- as Allesandra sits back and now his fingers
find her skin -- stroking ever so subtly --
THE PRIEST
... to contemplate evil. How it
robs -- how it steals everything
of value from us...
Cullen turns -- except it's not Cullen, it's Gettys --
yes, Gettys -- whispering in Allesandra's ear and --
THE PRIEST
... farther from God's purpose...
212 INT. CATHOLIC CHURCH - DAY 212
Kevin out of his seat. Pushing past Christabella --
rushing up the aisle --
THE PRIEST
... and the greater that distance,
the greater evil's pleasure...
118.
213 INT. CATHOLIC CHURCH - DAY 213
Milton watching Kevin flee the church.
CUT TO:
214 EXT. CATHOLIC CHURCH - DAY 214
Moments later. Kevin hustling away --
WEAVER (O.S.)
(behind him)
Mr. Lomax?
KEVIN
No comment. I'll have something
for you later.
WEAVER (O.S.)
I'm a friend of Eddie Barzoon.
Kevin turns. Weaver walking beside him.
WEAVER
Remember me? Mitch Weaver.
Justice Department.
KEVIN
Staking out the funeral?
WEAVER
Looking for you actually.
KEVIN
I'm in a bit of a hurry right now.
I need to talk to my wife.
WEAVER
Just wanted to ask you -- off the
record -- I had a few questions
about Eddie.
CUT TO:
215 INT. CATHOLIC CHURCH - DAY 215
The funeral. In progress. CHOIR and ORGAN getting
LOUDER. We're watching Milton move in the back of the
church.
CUT TO:
119.
216 EXT. STREET - DAY 216
Kevin walking faster. Weaver right beside him.
WEAVER
Milton, Chadwick, Waters is a
little more than a law firm, but
then I assume you knew that.
(working him)
Devada Holdings? I'm sure you've
heard of it. London, Kinshasa,
Karachi -- Arms brokering mostly.
You've got Munzer-Dietch, they're
in Berlin and Djakarta -- chemical
weapons, toxic waste. Ivanaco
Limited -- Moscow -- money
laundering for the Eastern Bloc.
(at his ear)
It goes on and on, Kevin.
CUT TO:
217 INT. CATHOLIC CHURCH - DAY 217
Stained glass. Angels. The Stations of the Cross.
218 INT. CATHOLIC CHURCH - DAY 218
Milton standing in the shadows at the back. Taking it
all in. Prodigal angel.
219 INT. CATHOLIC CHURCH - DAY 219
(EFX) And then, the stained-glass angels begin to move.
Wings begin to beat. Expressions come alive.
Expressions of panic and fear and --
CUT TO:
220 EXT. STREET - WEAVER - DAY 220
Kevin really striding. Weaver right there.
WEAVER
Milton is into everything.
(listen to me)
Barzoon was coming in, Kevin. He
was gonna testify.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
120.
220 CONTINUED: 220
WEAVER (CONT'D)
Desoto and Dibalista, in Panama,
that's a firm that specializes in
opening bank accounts for judges
all over South America. Huge drug
cases. Murder. Everything.
KEVIN
He's a lawyer! What the fuck do
you want?
(stopping there)
Stay off my back.
Weaver left standing there, as Kevin rushes away --
through traffic -- across the street --
WEAVER
This is a first time, last time
offer!
(calling
after him)
I'm learning about you, Kevin. I
talked to some old friends down in
Florida this morning...
(louder now)
The Gettys case. The eighth grade
teacher?
(did Kevin just
slow down)
Found him this morning. He had
the body of a ten-year-old girl in
the trunk of his car.
Kevin, across the street, stops.
CUT TO:
221 INT. CATHOLIC CHURCH - DAY 221
(EFX) Stained-glass angels going nuts now -- wings
flapping like mad -- danger everywhere, as the MUSIC
STARTS to CLIMAX and --
222 INT. CATHOLIC CHURCH - DAY 222
Milton down below. Lowering a single finger into the
holy water. Instantly -- it's boiling, and we --
HARD CUT TO:
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 121.
223 EXT. STREET - DAY 223
Kevin standing there, across the street -- Weaver smiles,
thinking he'll talk now for sure -- stepping off the
curb and --
TIRES SCREECHING and Weaver turning and --
A car trying to stop and --
Kevin watching as --
WHAMM! -- Weaver ploughed onto the hood and --
A mother at the wheel -- her daughter beside her -- both
screaming and --
The car's WINDSHIELD as it CRUMPLES and --
Kevin watching as the car stops and --
Weaver is dazed but alive -- his face buried in the
windshield -- pulling himself up and --
Weaver's face THROUGH the shattered glass as he looks
down to see --
Mother and child (EFX) -- transforming -- for an
instant -- into monsters and --
Weaver more terrified than hurt -- scrambling off the hood
of the car -- staring back in horror and --
Mother and child -- completely freaked out -- both of them
hysterical and --
Weaver holding his arm -- nose bloodied -- but moving --
backing away -- turning to find Kevin still across the
street and --
It's gonna be okay.
And then, a big flat-nose truck -- out of nowhere -- air
BRAKES BLASTING as it just wipes Weaver OFF the SCREEN
and --
Kevin falling back, flat against a wall -- STAYING ON
Kevin -- as the street comes alive with the SOUNDS of
EMERGENCY and he starts moving away and we --
CUT TO:
224 OMITTED 224
& &
225 225
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 122.
226 INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY - DAY 226
Kevin walking through -- stopping finally at an open
door --
227 INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY 227
Mary Ann in a chair. Heavily sedated. Pam standing
beside her, brushing her hair. Mrs. Lomax, on her knees,
standing now --
MRS. LOMAX
Kevin... honey...
KEVIN
What are you doing here?
MRS. LOMAX
I came this morning. I been
calling the house and getting no
answer and then I spoke to Pam
and... I need to talk to you.
PAM
We got her on the first flight up
this morning.
MRS. LOMAX
Are you all right?
KEVIN
I just... I don't know.
MRS. LOMAX
Will you excuse us a moment?
Mrs. Lomax guides Kevin out. Mary Ann's vacant eyes
watching them exit --
CUT TO:
228 INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY - DAY 228
Just outside the room.
MRS. LOMAX
I never should've left. I knew it.
I'll never forgive myself.
KEVIN
I was gonna call you, I just...
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 123.
228 CONTINUED: 228
MRS. LOMAX
What I did, Kevin, I thought it
was for the best. Loving you was
always first for me.
KEVIN
There's nothing you could've done.
MRS. LOMAX
I could've told you the truth.
KEVIN
About what?
MRS. LOMAX
I've lied to you, Kevin.
KEVIN
When?
MRS. LOMAX
Always.
(pause)
Baptist Endeavor Youth Crusade,
ninety-sixty-four. I was here.
In New York. That night in the
elevator, you never let me answer.
KEVIN
What are you talking about?
MRS. LOMAX
We stayed a week. The Tremont
Hotel, it's not there anymore, I
went by and it's gone -- they had
a restaurant downstairs and we ate
there almost every meal --
KEVIN
Wait. Stop.
MRS. LOMAX
Your father was a waiter in that
restaurant.
KEVIN
Oh, this is great, Ma... this is
just perfect --
MRS. LOMAX
-- honey, listen to me --
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 124.
228 CONTINUED: (2) 228
KEVIN
(total incredulity)
-- Now? You do this now? --
Because, I mean, your timing --
it's superb -- you wait thirty
years? -- you fly up here -- you
pick today? --
MRS. LOMAX
-- Kevin, honey, wait --
KEVIN
-- obviously I'm not under enough
pressure -- I don't have enough on
my mind, I need this little --
MRS. LOMAX
Listen to me.
KEVIN
Why are you doing this now?
MRS. LOMAX
Because I'm afraid!
Kevin overwhelmed -- walking away -- down the hall --
completely fritzed -- leaving her standing there --
MRS. LOMAX
Kevin. Kevin!
(calling
after him)
'Behold I send you out as sheep
amidst the wolves.'
Kevin just stopped walking.
CUT TO:
229 INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY 229
Mary Ann quiet as Pam finishes brushing her hair.
PAM
Don't you look beautiful now.
(re something
in her bag)
Here. Have a look and see.
A hand mirror. Mary Ann turns away instantly --
MARY ANN
No.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 125.
229 CONTINUED: 229
PAM
It's all right, dear. Look...
MARY ANN
No. Please...
PAM
Go on. Take a look. See how
beautiful you are?
Mary Ann opens her eyes. There's her reflection. She is
beautiful. It's okay. She smiles. What was she afraid
of? And then, the mirror shifts to find --
230 OMITTED 230
231 INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY 231
Pam -- A monster (EFX) -- her features horribly
transformed in the glass and --
232 INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY 232
Mary Ann rears back -- her head smashing into Pam's face
so hard that the MIRROR SHATTERS -- Pam, blind for a
moment, staggering back -- Mary Ann on her feet and
fighting and Pam suddenly pushed and --
CUT TO:
233 INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY - DAY 233
Pam standing there, holding her face in pain, as the glass
door slams shut and --
MRS. LOMAX
What's going on?
Mary Ann THROUGH the glass, jamming a chair up under the
doorknob --
MRS. LOMAX
Kevin!
Kevin jogging down the hall -- trying the door --
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 126.
233 CONTINUED: 233
KEVIN
(it won't open)
Mary Ann. Hey. Hey!
(still no luck)
Omigod... Get somebody! Go!
Pam doesn't move.
234 OMITTED 234
& &
235 235
236 INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY 236
Mary Ann, kneeling on the floor, picking up a broken
shard of mirror and --
CUT TO:
237 INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY - DAY 237
KEVIN
Mare! -- Look at me! -- Stop! --
right now -- Mare! --
CUT TO:
238 INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY 238
Mary Ann raising the glass/blade to her throat.
KEVIN
(through
the glass)
Mary Ann, no! No! No!
CUT TO:
239 OMITTED 239
240 INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY - DAY 240
MRS. LOMAX
-- Help! -- Help! -- Somebody! We
need help --
CUT TO:
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 127.
241 INT. HOSPITAL GLASS DOOR/HALLWAY - DAY 241
Kevin banging like mad on the glass but --
KEVIN
-- Mare! -- No! -- Look at me! --
Mary Ann raising the blade to her throat and --
KEVIN
-- Stop! -- No! -- Mare! --
Kevin grabbing a folding chair -- swinging it --
CUT TO:
241A OMITTED 241A
thru thru
243 243
243A INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY 243A
SMASH! -- GLASS SHATTERING over the floor, but Kevin still
can't get in -- wire mesh embedded in the window is bent
but unbroken and he's tearing at it and --
KEVIN
-- Mare! -- Hang on! -- I'm almost
there! -- Look at me!
And she does. Watching him claw at the wire --
MARY ANN
I loved you.
Pulling the blade across her neck --
KEVIN
Noooooooooo!
CUT TO:
243B OMITTED 243B
thru thru
243D 243D
244 INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY - DAY 244
Kevin kicking full force against the door and --
CUT TO:
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 128.
244A INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY 244A
The door buckles -- the chair wedged in there sent
flying -- Kevin stumbling over broken glass --
KEVIN
Oh, God, Mare, what've you done? --
no...
Mary Ann falling to the floor -- her bloody hand still
holding the blade deep in her neck --
ORDERLY #1
-- why? -- Oh God, Mare, why?
(over his shoulder)
We need a doctor in here!
CUT TO:
244B INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY - DAY 244B
Patients out of their rooms -- standing at their doorways --
sedated, bovine expressions watching --
MRS. LOMAX
(running through)
-- please -- somebody -- help
her! -- What are you all doing?
Somebody! --
ORDERLY #1 turning the corner up ahead --
ORDERLY #1
What's the hell's going on down
here?
CUT TO:
244C INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY 244C
Kevin cradling Mary Ann -- his hand trying to staunch the
wound in her neck -- blood flowing -- she isn't moving --
her eyes are starting to fix and --
KEVIN
-- no, Mare -- hang on -- please,
Mare, I'm right here, it's gonna
be okay, baby -- oh, God, Mare,
why did you do this? --
(screaming now)
Where's the fucking doctor?!
ORDERLY #1 (O.S.)
Oh shit, man...
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 129.
244C CONTINUED: 244C
Kevin turns -- Orderly #1 in the doorway --
KEVIN
What are you doing? Help her!
ORDERLY #1
Hey, look, I ain't no doctor...
(backing away)
Hang on -- lemme --
YELLING in the hall now, and faces in the doorway. Mrs.
Lomax crying and two weird patients from the next staring
and...
Pam. And only we can see it, but she's smiling...
KEVIN
-- please, baby, stay with me...
it'll be okay -- it's gonna be fine
just, just stay with me -- Oh God,
Mare... please, baby...
Kevin holding her, but she's gone, as we --
DISSOLVE TO:
245 OMITTED 245
thru thru
246 246
247 INT. HOSPITAL - BACK STAIRWELL - DAY 247
But someplace completely different. Older. Dark. Empty.
Echoey. A fluorescent bulb sputtering out.
FOOTSTEPS approaching...
It's Kevin. And we know instantly that Mary Ann is dead.
There's blood on his shirt. His eyes are raw. At his
side, a small suitcase containing her personal effects.
More than grief, more than shock, what we notice most is
his frighteningly grim determination.
Up ahead, a bench. Mrs. Lomax huddled here. Cried out.
Empty. Holding herself more tightly as he sets down the
suitcase.
MRS. LOMAX
I could've packed that up for you.
Kevin sits. If he loses his steel he'll drown.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 130.
247 CONTINUED: 247
MRS. LOMAX
I wish you'da let me help you.
KEVIN
Finish the story.
(off silence)
Nineteen-sixty-four. You're in
New York. There's a waiter in a
restaurant.
(waiting)
Finish the story.
MRS. LOMAX
He talked to me. Nobody'd ever
really talked to me before. Sixteen
years old, a thousand miles away
from home, somebody takes an
interest... Working so hard,
putting himself through school,
I'd never met anybody like that.
Knew the Bible, every word, just
knew it by heart. Every meal,
there he was, at my ear and I
just... I didn't want that week to
ever end. But it did. He came to
say goodbye, it was late, and I
started to cry and he said not to
worry, 'Behold, I send you out as
sheep amidst the wolves.' And that
just stopped me cold because we'd
spent that whole day at Bible study
reading Matthew Ten and there was
just no way for him to know about
that, so I was... I took it as a
sign. I let him in. And then
everything was different. He was
cruel. He was so cruel and I was
so ashamed, I thought I'd die...
Kevin's eyes settle on the suitcase. Mary Ann...
MRS. LOMAX
I promised right there if God would
let me back into His grace I would
never leave again. I prayed there
was a reason this terrible thing
had happened. There had to be a
reason. And there was. It was
you. You were my blessing. You
were reason enough to endure
anything. How much I love you.
KEVIN
I want to hear you say it.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 131.
247 CONTINUED: (2) 247
MRS. LOMAX
His face -- that night -- I knew
it was him and the same time I was
confused -- and you were so proud
you'd come to New York and done all
this on your own, I didn't have the
heart to tell you --
KEVIN
Say it.
MRS. LOMAX
(desperate
to finish)
-- you wondered yourself -- the
apartment, the money, all this
attention, everything out of
nowhere...
(pause)
Milton. He's your father.
(there it is,
out loud)
Somehow he found us. Tracked you
down.
KEVIN
No.
MRS. LOMAX
What do you mean?
KEVIN
He's always been there. I know
that now. Watching. Waiting.
He's been playing us like a game.
Jerking us around. Destroying Mary
Ann...
Kevin stands. Quiet fury. A machine.
MRS. LOMAX
What are you doing?
KEVIN
I gotta go.
MRS. LOMAX
No... let it alone! Stay with me.
(panicked)
Forget about him! We can leave
here. We can go home! We don't
ever have to see him again!
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 132.
247 CONTINUED: (3) 247
KEVIN
I can't do that. You go home.
(backing away)
Pray for Mary Ann.
MRS. LOMAX
Kevin, please... Honey!
(calling
after him)
I love you!
Kevin disappearing down the stairs. Mrs. Lomax dropping
to her knees as his FOOTSTEPS ECHO away, and we --
CUT TO:
248 EXT. HOSPITAL EXIT AND STREET - DAY 248
As Kevin explodes through a fire door. Pam standing
there, having a smoke.
PAM
There you are...
(all smiles)
Look at you... you're terrified.
Not to worry. He'll take that fear
away. You don't ever have to be
frightened again. Go on, he's
waiting...
Kevin turning and something is very wrong --
249 EXT. HOSPITAL EXIT AND STREET - DAY 249
Fifty-seventh Street is empty. No cars. No people.
Just the building and the silence. Turning back and
Pam is gone, and then --
And then a WIDER ANGLE -- it goes on and on... He's alone.
Just now realizing the scale of Milton's power. Starting
to walk, as we --
CUT TO:
250 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 250
The room's only light coming from the huge bas relief.
Kevin steps off the elevator, into the room.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 133.
250 CONTINUED: 250
MILTON (O.S.)
You're right about one thing... I
have been watching. Couldn't help
myself. Watching, waiting, holding
my breath. But I'm no puppeteer,
Kevin...
Milton appears out of nowhere. Walking past Kevin.
MILTON
... I don't make things happen.
Doesn't work like that. Free
will -- it's like butterfly wings --
one touch and it never gets off the
ground. I only set the stage. You
pull your own strings.
Kevin has a gun -- Cullen's gun, in his hand --
KEVIN
What did you do to Mary Ann?
MILTON
A gun? In here?
KEVIN
What did you do to my wife?
MILTON
On a scale of one to ten, ten
being the most depraved acts of
sexual theater, one being an
average Friday night run-through
at the Lomax household, I'd say...
(beat)
Six.
Kevin FIRES the GUN -- BANG! BANG! BANG! -- bullets pass
right through him -- into the wall --
MILTON
Whoa... Got me! Damn!
(laughing)
That's my boy. Step on up! Stay
angry! Keep hold to that great
fury! Hang on tight, Kevin, because
it's the final fig leaf.
Kevin lowers the gun to his side.
KEVIN
Who are you?
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 134.
250 CONTINUED: (2) 250
MILTON
Never lost a case. Why? Why?
Because you're so fucking good?
Yes. But why?
KEVIN
Because you're my father.
MILTON
Well, I'm a little more than that.
Awful hot in that courtroom, wasn't
it? 'What's the game plan, Kevin?'
(reporter's voice)
'It was a nice run, Kevin. Had to
close out someday.'
KEVIN
Who are you?
MILTON
I have so many names.
KEVIN
Satan.
MILTON
Call me Dad.
KEVIN
Mary Ann, Barzoon, Weaver...
MILTON
Come on. You're not listening.
Blaming me for Mary Ann? I hope
you're kidding. You could've saved
her any time you liked. She only
wanted love. But you knew it
wouldn't really work out, didn't
you? Mary Ann in New York? Face
it, you started looking to better-
deal her the minute you got here.
KEVIN
That's a lie.
MILTON
Hey, it's not that you didn't care
for her, it's just you were a
little bit more involved with
someone else. Yourself.
KEVIN
What the hell do you know about
love?
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 135.
250 CONTINUED: (3) 250
MILTON
Bio-chemically no different than
eating large quantities of chocolate.
(sharply now)
Don't be such a fucking chump.
There's only one real sickness in
all of creation and that is self-
delusion. I told you to take care
of your wife -- that the world
would understand. And you made a
choice. 'You know what scares me,
John? I leave the case, she gets
better and I hate her for it...'
Remember?
KEVIN
You set me up. It's entrapment.
MILTON
Who told you to pull out the stops
for Mr. Gettys? And Moyez -- the
direction you took -- Snake
handlers, Popes and swamis all
feeding at the same trough -- whose
ideas were those? And then
Cullen -- knowing he's guilty --
seeing those pictures -- putting
that lying bitch on the stand...
What did I say, Kevin? Maybe it was
time to lose, right? You didn't
think so.
KEVIN
That's my job. That's what I do!
MILTON
Exactly!
(gotcha)
Vanity is definitely my favorite
sin. Self love. It's so basic.
What a drug. Cheap, all-natural,
and right at your fingertips.
Pride. That's where you're
strongest. And believe me, I
understand. Work for someone
else? -- Hey, I couldn't hack it.
'Better to reign in Hell than
serve in Heaven.'
KEVIN
What do you want from me?
MILTON
What do I want? I want you to be
yourself!
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 136.
251 OMITTED 251
& &
252 252
253 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 253
(EFX) The Bas Relief -- that wall of bodies swirling in
marble clouds -- it's going to come to life --
254 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 254
MILTON
I've had many children, Kevin. So
many disappointments. Neurotic,
indecisive wannabes. Over-eager,
ham-handed butchers. Strung-out,
priapic losers. And then there's
you. Your mother, I'll tell you,
she outstripped my wildest fantasy.
That church she dragged you to?
Every day? What training. What
a challenge! It's awesome what
you've done. How far you've come.
Both of you... You and your sister.
Christabella emerges from behind the bar --
MILTON
Half-sister to be exact.
CHRISTABELLA
Surprise.
MILTON
What do you think, Kevin? What a
scene, huh?
CHRISTABELLA
(passing Kevin)
Don't let him scare you.
MILTON
Wait till you meet her mother.
KEVIN
It is a test, isn't it? The whole
game, you sitting there, keeping
score.
MILTON
No. That's the other guy. I
don't judge anybody. As far as
I'm concerned, everyone's a winner.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 137.
254 CONTINUED: 254
MILTON (CONT'D)
God's your prankster, my boy.
Think of it. He gives man
instincts. He gives you this
extraordinary gift and then, I
swear to you -- for his own
amusement -- his own private,
cosmic gag reel -- he sets the
rules in opposition. It's the
goof of all time. Look but don't
touch. Touch but don't taste.
Taste but don't swallow. And
while you're jumping from one foot
to the other he's laughing his
sick fucking ass off! He's a
tight-ass. He's a sadist. He's
an absentee landlord!
(incredulous)
Worship that? Never.
255 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 255
(EFX) The Bas Relief getting stranger and more seductive
by the moment -- bodies spinning and spawning --
256 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 256
MILTON
I'm here, on the ground, my nose
in it since the whole damn thing
began. Why? Because I worship
man himself. And it's my time
now. Our time.
CHRISTABELLA
Anybody want a drink? I'm having
a drink.
KEVIN
This is some pitch. You must need
me pretty bad. What do you want?
MILTON
Eddie was right. Your name is on
the partnership charter. I want
you to take over the firm. You
and your sister.
KEVIN
Is that it?
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 138.
256 CONTINUED: 256
MILTON
No.
(letting his hand
brush her cheek)
She's ovulating. Right now.
KEVIN
What?
MILTON
Your vanity is justified, Kevin,
you're the seed to a new future.
Your son will sit at the head of
all tables. You hold a special
place in the history of all things.
KEVIN
You want a child.
MILTON
I want a family.
KEVIN
The Antichrist.
MILTON
Whatever...
KEVIN
But I have to volunteer.
Christabella begins to strip.
MILTON
Free will. It's a bitch.
(beat)
I need a family. I command an ever
larger presence on the board. I'm
busy and I need some help. There's
a plan here. I've been conserving
my energy. Synergy. Prioritize.
It's the millennium, Kevin. Title
fight. Round twenty. I'm ready
to work.
KEVIN
So what are you offering?
MILTON
Are we negotiating?
KEVIN
Always.
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 139.
256 CONTINUED: (2) 256
MILTON
Yes!
KEVIN
What are you offering?
MILTON
Everything. Anything. All of it!
(he's got him)
What am I offering? I'm offering
bliss. Instant bliss. Bliss by
remote control. Bliss on tap.
That first line of cocaine. That
walk into a strange girl's bedroom.
The jury coming back in thirty-
eight minutes. Freedom.
Revolution! Viva la causa!
257 OMITTED 257
thru thru
259 259
260 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 260
(EFX) The Bas Relief transforming into real clouds and
bodies and the frame of it disappearing and --
261 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 261
KEVIN
You're right, aren't you? About
me. I mean, I made all the
choices, didn't I? Gettys.
Cullen. Mary Ann. I did kill her,
didn't I?
MILTON
Don't be too hard on yourself.
Christabella passing Kevin, handing him her bra.
CHRISTABELLA
It's done. Forget it. It's all
for us now.
MILTON
God, she's just fucking stunning,
isn't she?
Christabella lingering and Kevin leaning in... kissing
her... just a moment before she pulls away --
(CONTINUED)
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 140.
261 CONTINUED: 261
KEVIN
You're right. I wanted to fuck
her from the minute we met.
MILTON
Like that's wrong. Like there's
anything wrong with that. That
there could be laws preventing
something so natural. That's
our ticket in.
(excited now)
Did you know there were more
students in law school right now
than lawyers walking the Earth?
262 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 262
(EFX) The Bas Relief has become an orgy, bodies coming to
life in a swirling, narcotic haze and --
263 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 263
MILTON
We're coming out, guns blazing.
The two of you -- all of us --
acquittal after acquittal until
the stench of it reaches so high
into heaven it chokes the whole
fucking lot of them! What we
cannot legislate we will buy. What
we cannot buy we will degrade. We
will blow every fuse of enlightenment
until it looks like a vandalized,
neon sign! And while God is busy
at his peephole -- as he deigns us
with his disapproval -- as he
lumbers around his empty kingdom
like some overfed colonial governor --
as God sleeps late, we will win.
We've got a winner here, kids!
KEVIN
In the Bible you lose. You're
destined to lose.
MILTON
Consider the source.
Christabella -- her hands -- moving over her body --
CHRISTABELLA
Stop talking. Both of you.
(reaching out)
Kevin, please...
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - Rev. 1/18/97 141.
264 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 264
(EFX) The bodies craning to watch as they roll by.
265 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 265
CHRISTABELLA
(urgently now)
Kevin, really, please...
MILTON
She's right, my son. It's time to
step up and take what's yours.
KEVIN
You're right. It's time.
Kevin raises the GUN to his temple -- quick and simple --
SNAP! -- he's blown his brains out --
Milton stunned -- disbelieving for a moment and then an
aura of fire and heat explodes around him --
MILTON
Nooooooo...!
CUT TO:
266 OMITTED 266
& &
267 267
142.
268 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 268
(EFX) Kevin starting to fall in SUPER SLOW MOTION and --
CUT TO:
269 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 269
(EFX) The room consumed with fire as the heat explodes
around Milton's body and --
CUT TO:
270 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 270
(EFX) Kevin still falling and --
CUT TO:
271 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 271
(EFX) Christabella beating at the flames that now cover
her body and --
CUT TO:
272 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 272
(EFX) Kevin still falling and --
CUT TO:
273 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 273
(EFX) The Bas Relief. The clouds are now fire -- the
bodies now burning and --
CUT TO:
274 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 274
(EFX) Kevin still falling and --
CUT TO:
275 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 275
(EFX) Milton as his clothes burn away -- as the heat eats
away his features --
143.
276 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 276
(EFX) as he becomes younger and younger and younger,
until suddenly --
277 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 277
(EFX) For a moment. He is an angel. An instant of
exquisite perfection amidst the flames. And then, just
as --
278 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 278
(EFX) suddenly -- HE EXPLODES! -- and we --
CUT TO:
279 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 279
(EFX) The Bas Relief freezing instantly back into stone
-- trapped in tortured, agonizing finality.
280 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 280
(EFX) And then, the whole thing just crumbling. Stone
raining down in tiny pieces and --
CUT TO:
281 INT. MILTON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 281
(EFX) Kevin in SUPER SLOW MOTION as he falls the final
few inches to the floor and at the moment of impact we
hear the sound of THUNDER and we --
CUT TO:
282 INT. FLORIDA COURTHOUSE - MEN'S ROOM - DAY 282
The mirror. And Kevin's face. As THUNDER ECHOES AWAY
and becomes nothing more than a FLUSHING URINAL.
We're back in Florida. Where we started. Kevin touches
his face. His body. His head. He's alive. He touches
the mirror. He's insane. He's here. It's now. WATER
RUNNING in the sink.
(CONTINUED)
144.
282 CONTINUED: 282
REPORTER (O.S.)
(behind him)
It was a nice run. Kev. Had to
close out someday. Nobody wins
'em all.
The Reporter exits. Kevin alone with the mirror and his
reflection.
And then it's over. He's made his decision. Replacing
his wedding ring. Reaching for his jacket, as we --
CUT TO:
283 INT. FLORIDA COURTHOUSE - HALLWAY - DAY 283
Kevin walking through. His game face. A court officer
opening the doors and --
CUT TO:
284 INT. FLORIDA COURTROOM - DAY 284
Kevin entering. Standing there a moment. Searching for
Heath in the back of the courtroom. He's not there. A
single empty seat.
Kevin moving quickly down the aisle.
Mary Ann standing there, completely unprepared as Kevin
comes in behind her. Embracing her. Holding her tightly
to him with a fervor that we alone will understand.
MARY ANN
Honey, what are you doing?
(quietly)
Are you okay?
Kevin nods. Smiles. Backs away. Into his seat. Gettys
there beside him. Kevin will not look at him.
BAILIFF
All rise for the honorable Justice
Garson Deeds.
The Judge enters. Takes his seat.
JUDGE
(to Barbara)
You're still under oath, young
lady.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
145.
284 CONTINUED: 284
JUDGE (CONT'D)
(to Kevin)
Your witness, Mr. Lomax.
KEVIN
Your Honor, I'm terribly sorry,
but I can no longer represent my
client. I need to be replaced as
counsel.
Another silence. But this one isn't very long. There
will be chaos in the courtroom. Gettys will freak out
and the press will start running for the phones and the
Judge will be banging that gavel, as we --
CUT TO:
285 INT. FLORIDA COURTHOUSE - HALLWAY - DAY 285
As the doors open and the chaos begins to spill into the
hallway. Kevin trying to rush away with Mary Ann but
right behind them --
REPORTER
Kevin! -- Hey!
(catching up)
Listen, this story -- this is the
one, pal -- this is the one you
dream about --
KEVIN
There is no story.
REPORTER
Bullshit. A lawyer with a crisis
of conscience? You gotta be
kidding. It's huge!
KEVIN
They're gonna disbar me, Larry.
You can cover that.
MARY ANN
Can they do that?
REPORTER
Not when I get through with the
story.
(still walking)
You gotta talk, Kevin. You gotta
gimme an exclusive.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
146.
285 CONTINUED: 285
REPORTER (CONT'D)
This is wire service. This is
'Sixty Minutes'. This is a story
that needs to be told. It's you!
You're a star!
KEVIN
Call me tomorrow.
REPORTER
You got it. First thing.
Kevin nods. Holding Mary Ann's hand as they escape.
286 INT. FLORIDA COURTHOUSE - HALLWAY - DAY 286
The Reporter watching them go for a moment. Then turning
back.
287 INT. FLORIDA COURTHOUSE - HALLWAY - DAY 287
(EFX) And as he does, his features change, transforming - - like
that -- into Milton.
288 INT. FLORIDA COURTHOUSE - HALLWAY - DAY 288
It's Milton.
Always there.
And he smiles. And we FREEZE FRAME.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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