Line #4 Film/TheDevilAndMaxDevlin


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/23f4a5d4_5d9b_4dce_84ca_8417cd6fcf5c.jpeg]]
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3	''The Devil and Max Devlin'' is a 1981 live-action Creator/{{Disney}} comedy film starring Creator/BillCosby as the Devil and Creator/ElliottGould as Max Devlin.
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5	Max is a selfish man who dies after being hit by a bus, and finds himself in Hell. The Devil's assistant, Barney Satin (Cosby) offers to spare him if he can get three other people to take his place (by tricking them into signing [[DealWithTheDevil contracts for their souls]]). Max agrees at first, but as he gets to know his victims, he comes to regret his decision.
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7	----
8	!!This film contains examples of:
9	* BerserkButton: [[spoiler: When Barney reveals he had lied about a certain term of Max's deal with him, Max knowingly risks eternal damnation to save them from that fate.]]
10	* CardCarryingVillain: Hell's operatives are definitely not afraid to play dirty when collecting souls. Lampshaded when Agent Hargraves reveals herself to Max.
11	-->'''Max''': That's entrapment! It's not fair!\
12	'''Barney''': "Fair"? Are you forgetting where you are?
13	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Hell resembles a corporate headquarters.
14	* CurseCutShort: At the end, when [[spoiler:Max realizes that he had save himself by saving the three]]:
15	-->'''Max''': I beat that lousy, rotten slimy son of a bi--!\
16	'''Penny''': Beat who?\
17	'''Max''': [[spoiler:Barney. I beat Barney!]]
18	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Because Max wants the children to live out their natural lives, Barney's demand that he take their souls now pushes him to pull a HeelFaceTurn.
19	* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: Described in graphic and [[{{Pun}} hellish]] detail even for a Disney movie by Barney when threatening Max.
20	-->'''Barney''': Burn those contracts, and eternal damnation is YOURS! You'll know the UNMITIGATING PAIN AND HORROR of limbs being torn from their sockets--YOUR limbs, YOUR sockets! You'll feel pain you NEVER imagined in your life--yours, forever! Flesh you'll smell burning--YOUR flesh, ROTTING FOREVER!
21	* FaustianBargain: Barney Satin offers to restore Max Devlin to life if he gave him the souls of three children within a month.
22	* {{Foreshadowing}}: When he first appears, Barney hints at Hell's pride in dirty tricks in the name of collecting souls. [[spoiler:He attempts to use dirty tricks himself later on, after all three of his target souls have been secured.]]
23	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Max burns the kids' contracts, yelling to the Devil that he'll never take them! NEVER! Subverted a few scenes later when, as he says his final goodbyes to the youths he had gotten to know through the contracts, he passes a mirror by chance and finds out that RedemptionEarnsLife.]]
24	* ILied: [[spoiler: Barney, after Max fulfills his DealWithTheDevil. This pushes Max's BerserkButton so hard he actually destroys the contracts.]]
25	* MagicalNegro: Barney Satin who provided Max with supernatural powers.
26	* LouisCypher: Barney Satin. Now what other word does "Satin" resemble?
27	* {{Novelization}}: By Robert Grossbach.
28	* RedemptionEarnsLife: [[spoiler: As Max found out by chance when he passes by a mirror and sees his own reflection, realizing that he actually beat the Devil by choosing to preserve the kids' souls over his own and that his selfless sacrifice deemed him unworthy of hell. He doesn't forget to thank God for His wonderful mercy during a concert held by one of the youths at the end of the film.]]
29	-->'''Max''': [[spoiler:Thank you very much.]]\
30	''[credits roll]''
31	* SadisticChoice: [[LargeHam "Burn those contracts, and eternal damnation is YOURS!"]] Of course, considering Max knew he'd be going back to Hell anyway when he died and his top priority now was keeping the three alive, he decided he may as well get his eternal damnation over with and burned the contracts anyway. [[spoiler:To even his own surprise, he managed to get the Devil off his back forever in doing so.]]
32	* ScaryBlackMan: Barney Satin, especially when he goes full devil near the end.
33	* TookALevelInJerkass: [[spoiler: What happens to the kids after they sign the contracts.]]
34	* TookALevelInKindness: Part of Max's CharacterDevelopment, coming from the time he spends with the kids changing him [[spoiler:to the point that he [[HeroicSacrifice burns the contracts to save them at the risk of eternal damnnation.]]]]

Context Film / TheDevilAndMaxDevlin