behind you.
sorry. didn't mean to.
john milton.
have we been treating you well?
your wife, she's had a good time?
good. that's our secret. we kill you with kindness. what's your secret?
you were a prosecutor.
sixty-four straight convictions. what a number.
what's that like? one day you're putting them away and the next you're setting them free?
pays better though, doesn't it?
the math teacher. the gettys case. i hear you were brilliant.
really. so you think your guy was guilty.
what did you say?
i was sure you had a secret.
i love it.
you don't really want to go back to florida, do you? walk with me.
what do you think? some people can't handle it.
exactly. fill in the resume. tell me about your family. what does your father do?
she never remarried?
that can't be easy in gainesville.
little different when you're looking down, isn't it? tell me about her. your mother. what's she like?
'many are in high places, and of great renown: but mysteries are revealed unto the meek.'
didn't rub off on you? the book? the church?
lotta potential clients down there.
you like it here, don't you?
always.
because our clients break the law just like everyone else and i'm tired of sending their business across the street.
i'm thinking about it. you have the talent. i knew that before you got here. it's the other thing i wonder about.
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?
money's the easy part.
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. 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. we need something. a gesture. what do i need, eddie?
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? let's hold hands. all of us. together.
right now. every person at this table -- take the hand of the person on either side.
you want out of this, eddie?
you won't hold hands? it's important to me, eddie.
see. see, i feel better already.
bravo, kevin. bravo. pamela, you're looking lovely. satisfied, phillipe?
kevin, what can i say? outstanding.
best street food in the world. try that. tell me it isn't great. new york. what a scene, right?
guy like moyez living in that subterranean shithole all the time he's running around with fifteen million dollars in the bank.
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. 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.
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.
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.
the look. the florida stud thing. 'scuse me, ma'am, did i leave my boots under your bed?'
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.
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 -- where's the chicken?
where's the chicken? the chicken that plays tic-tac-toe. he used to be right here.
there's a chicken, he's famous, he plays tic-tac-toe. he never loses. hey. like you. right? 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?
better a hundred guilty men go free than a single innocent be executed.
no. exactly like that. it's faith. you're either in or out. you can't believe a little bit.
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?
learn the subways, kevin. use them. stay in the trenches.
mary ann? john milton.  i was hoping we'd meet tonight. and here you are, already swimming with the sharks.
you'd be surprised. there's a lot more fear in this room than you'd think.
each other. themselves. why? what scares you?
you'll figure that out. there's only one thing worth being frightened of anyway, and that's being alone. truly and finally alone.
you know what terrifies me? responsibility.
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?
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?
you must have family.
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.
so you've got a lot at stake here. you've made a real commitment.
it's not gonna be like gainesville, but then you know that already.
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?
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.
you have shoulders nobody can see. pull it back.
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. take a look. see. that's it. isn't that incredible? you need to cut your hair.
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. you know, your natural color would really bring out your eyes.
you know what i see?
i see the future of this law firm. christabella, cara, prestamelo per favore, pe lo riporto piu tardi.
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.
everywhere.
how many hours did we bill alex cullen last year?
alex cullen has just been charged with murdering his ex- wife, her stepson, and a maid.
just now. tonight. i already sent pam downtown to make bail arrangements.
no. i want kevin on this case.
i've shaken hands with every marquee defense attorney in town. i take kevin and i don't look back.
i want you on board, eddie.
we can get this case. the man's our client.
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.
no. that's up to kevin.
that's pam calling.  are we fighting for this, or not?
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?
he's a winner, alex. and they'll never see him coming.
grab your coat, mr. lomax.
the night is young. title fight. ringside.
do it on the way.
you write beautifully, eddie.
soon.
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.
no. i can hear you just fine.
i'm not going anywhere.
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.
do yourself a favor and put that knife where it belongs.
i told him if he didn't leave us alone, you were going to kick all three of their asses.
you need a better lawyer.
hang on a second.  meet my new heavyweight. kevin lomax.
speak of the devil.
i was just telling the moyez story.
and is this your mother?
john milton. nice to meet you.
mary ann.  i think you've met christabella, and this is giselle who's just in from paris.
you've very welcome. this isn't really your first visit to new york, is it?
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.
kevin, hang on.  how's cullen. everything on beam?
why don't you come on up?
you sure?
i'm taking you off the case.
i want you to drop this case.
do you love this woman?
kevin, she's sick. everyone will understand. i'll understand.
we'll find someone new. you consult. you live to fight another day.
it's a disappointment. we all have them. embrace it. use it. you move on.
what's to talk? it's your wife, man. and she's very sick. and that's gotta come first. are you telling me the possibility of leaving the case has never crossed your mind?
i guess you have thought about it. i stand corrected.
was he drunk?
eddie's gotten himself into trouble again. and he wants me to save him. and i can't.
do you have any experience with manic-depression?
you do now.
yes, it's me. get eddie barzoon. right away. he may be out running, so page him if you have to. it's an emergency. looks like you could use a drink.
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.'
choice. the opportunity to fuck up. talk about entertainment value.
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.
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.
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.
what choice do we have?
because she didn't answer you fast enough? did she lie to you? no. she said nothing. the fact is, you'll never know.
you really believe that?
look, you gotta go with your gut.
i'll back you either way. hey, you think i haven't lost before? we talked about this, kevin. pressure. take a big whiff.
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.
 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.
a gun? in here?
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.  six.
whoa.  got me! damn! 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.
never lost a case. why? why? because you're so fucking good? yes. but why?
well, i'm a little more than that. awful hot in that courtroom, wasn't it? 'what's the game plan, kevin?' 'it was a nice run, kevin. had to close out someday.'
i have so many names.
call me dad.
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.
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.
bio-chemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate. 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?
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.
exactly! 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.'
what do i want? i want you to be yourself!
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.
half-sister to be exact.
what do you think, kevin? what a scene, huh?
wait till you meet her mother.
no. that's the other guy. i don't judge anybody. as far as i'm concerned, everyone's a winner.
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! worship that? never.
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.
eddie was right. your name is on the partnership charter. i want you to take over the firm. you and your sister.
no. she's ovulating. right now.
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.
i want a family.
whatever.
free will. it's a bitch. 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.
are we negotiating?
yes!
everything. anything. all of it! 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!
don't be too hard on yourself.
god, she's just fucking stunning, isn't she?
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. did you know there were more students in law school right now than lawyers walking the earth?
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!
consider the source.
she's right, my son. it's time to step up and take what's yours.
nooooooo!
	120:
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 15. 96 7.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 15. 96 8.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 15. 96 9.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 15. 96 9a.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 15. 96 16.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 19.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 23.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 15. 96 24.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 15. 96 25.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 15. 96 26.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 29.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 30.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 31.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 33.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 15. 96 38a. 39.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 40.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 41.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 42.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 43.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 44.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 45.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 46.
front door -- abuzz -- milton has just arrived.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 49.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 50.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 51.
kevin standing at the rail. he looks over. christabella not ten feet away.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 53.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 56.
devil's advocate - rev. 10. 22. 96 57.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 60.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 61.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 63.
devil's advocate - rev. 10. 22. 96 67.
devil's advocate - rev. 10. 22. 96 68.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 70.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 71.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 73.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 74.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 75.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 79.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 80.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 81.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 15. 96 82.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 15. 96 83.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 15. 96 85. 86.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 87.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 88.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 15. 96 89.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 15. 96 90.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 15. 96 91.
devil's advocate - rev. 10. 22. 96 93.
devil's advocate - rev. 10. 22. 96 94.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 96.
devil's advocate - rev. 10. 22. 96 97.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 15. 96 99.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 101.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 104.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 111.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 112.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 115.
devil's advocate - rev. 11. 2. 96 116.
devil's advocate - rev. 1. 18. 97 123.
devil's advocate - rev. 1. 18. 97 124.
devil's advocate - rev. 1. 18. 97 125.
devil's advocate - rev. 1. 18. 97 126.
devil's advocate - rev. 1. 18. 97 129.
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devil's advocate - rev. 1. 18. 97 132.
devil's advocate - rev. 1. 18. 97 133.
devil's advocate - rev. 1. 18. 97 134.
devil's advocate - rev. 1. 18. 97 135.
devil's advocate - rev. 1. 18. 97 137.
devil's advocate - rev. 1. 18. 97 138.
devil's advocate - rev. 1. 18. 97 139.
devil's advocate - rev. 1. 18. 97 140.