What a miscast? That was the worst choice to play the devil. Al Pacino played that role best. This movie should have gotten Idris Elba for that role. I don't see Will Smith as the Devil. I actually laughed when his teeth came out like that.
shareNot sure if it was a bigger mistake to cast him or for him to play the role.
shareI am a devotee of the book and I don't get what the Devil is doing in this picture anyhow.
You've got me?! Who's got you?!
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My reaction was just "why the hell not?" Lucifer can look like whoever he damn well pleases, and Smith steals both of his scenes - which is difficult when he's stealing them from Russell Crowe.
shareI laughed I was so aghast when Will Smith showed up. The movie almost came to a screeching halt for me. Considering that I was enjoying the movie I didn't let this silly miscast derail my involvement.
Will Smith as Lucipher? Really.
I either had my head stuck in the dirt, or I had my head stuck in the dirt. I did not realize he was going to be in this movie. I'm with you. I enjoyed his scenes. He did seem out of place, but as you said, "why the hell not?", right?
The grave is no bar to my call.
I haven't really got an opinion about Will Smith's viability for the role. I was okay with it. He played the part well.
However, the role was great for Will Smith. Will Smith has this good guy image about him, like he can do no wrong. I haven't seen him play a bad guy before. Maybe he has, but I haven't seen it. So it was kind of a shock.
Al Pacino did make a great devil in The Devil's Advocate. One of my favorite movies. However my favorite devil was Robert DeNiro in Angel Heart. That one's a little less common, but while he didn't play up the temptation angle as well as Pacino, what he did to Mickey Rourke was far worse than what Pacino did to Keanu Reeves. And The Devil's Advocate was a pretty simple and straightforward movie. A good one, I'm a big fan of it, but Angel Heart was dark, depressing, moody, and that twist... I liked the Devil's Advocate twist, but it just didn't hit as hard. (When I first saw it, I was much younger, and thought the twist was that "Louis Cypher" or however he spells it, was actually Lucifer—say it fast and it sounds similar. The real twist went right over my head. Saw it years later and it was like seeing it for the first time.)
Sorry for going off the rails. Will Smith wasn't a great devil, but the role was a good one for his career, I think.
- Dark Reality
Idris would have been great but I liked Will Smith doing it too. Why did you recommend another black actor for the role instead of Smith?
shareI didn't want anyone to think I was racist by being critical of the casting.
shareBecause Will Smith is the Fresh Prince, he's one of the Men in Black, etc. He just doesn't do sinister very well and he's such a recognizable person it just takes you right out of the moment...Come to think of it, I really don't think Russell was very intimidating either, esp with the Irish brogue-I think he was phoning this one in.
shareI am a devotee of the book and I don't get what the Devil is doing in this picture anyhow.
This miscast was right up there with Cuba Gooding Jr in 'What Dreams May Come'. Neither actor brought what was needed to the role. For this film Satan should have been a James Earl Jones or Michael Clark Duncan "type".
MOJO2004