Philadelphia (1993)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Jonathan Demme

Writer (WGA):

Ron Nyswaner (written by)

Release Date:

23 December 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

No one would take on his case... until one man was willing to take on the system.

Plot:

When a man with AIDS is fired by a conservative law firm because of his condition, he hires a homophobic small time lawyer as the only willing advocate for a wrongful dismissal suit.

Plot Keywords:

AIDS | Lawyer | Homophobia | Pennsylvania | City Name In Title

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Tom Hanks	...	Andrew Beckett
Denzel Washington	...	Joe Miller
Roberta Maxwell	...	Judge Tate
Buzz Kilman	...	Crutches
Karen Finley	...	Dr. Gillman
Daniel Chapman	...	Clinic Storyteller
Mark Sorensen Jr.	...	Clinic Patient
Jeffrey Williamson	...	Tyrone
Charles Glenn	...	Kenneth Killcoyne
Ron Vawter	...	Bob Seidman
Anna Deavere Smith	...	Anthea Burton
Stephanie Roth Haberle	...	Rachel Smilow (as Stephanie Roth)
Lisa Talerico	...	Shelby
Joanne Woodward	...	Sarah Beckett
Jason Robards	...	Charles Wheeler

Also Known As:

At Risk (USA) (working title)
People Like Us (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some graphic language and thematic material.

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Portugal:M/12 | Mexico:C | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Netherlands:AL | Norway:10 | Peru:14 | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

City Hall - Broad and 15th Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Clinica Estetico

Trivia:

At Becketts Fancy Dress Celebration/Memorial Party, the elderly chap standing next to 'Mona Lisa' is none other than Quentin Crisp, the British gay celebrity portrayed in BBC film The Naked Civil Servant (1975) (TV) starring John Hurt.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Jamie is looking for files on Andew's computer at work, the computer, an old IBM PS/2, is switched off (the power switch is down).

Quotes:

Judge Garrett: In this courtroom, Mr.Miller, justice is blind to matters of race, creed, color, religion, and sexual orientation.
Joe Miller: With all due respect, your honor, we don't live in this courtroom, do we?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Mint: (#1.50)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Heaven

Philadelphia is about life, and making it matter.

Philadelphia is a guttingly emotional and tragic story of how a lawyer fired for having AIDS attempts to vindicate himself in court. Tom Hanks gives perhaps the most powerful performance of his career as Andrew Beckett, the afflicted lawyer. He received the Academy Award in a waltz, and you could almost pick any of his major scenes as worthy of the award.

This movie is probably the best drama regarding gay issues ever made. Remember, it was made in 1993, when AIDS was still a terminal disease, and it recalls the early days of an epidemic that may not square with the vision afforded today, but at the time, this was the reality of AIDS.

The entire crew is A-List. Tak Fujimoto, who would also film Silence of the Lambs and Sixth Sense, directed cinematography. Jonathan Demme, also of Silence of the Lambs fame, directs with typical honesty and grit. Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young contributed hauntingly touching original songs. Even Antonio Banderas, whom I never miss an opportunity to vilify, is moving as Hanks' devoted and supportive partner. Denzel Washington was well cast as the homophobic lawyer who ultimately takes Hanks' case, and Mary Steenburgen is surprising in an uncharacteristic villain role.

Ron Vawter, who played one of the lawyers in the firm from which Hanks was fired, and also appeared in Silence of the Lambs, was himself suffering from AIDS at the time of filming, and he eventually succumbed to it a few years later. His appearance in the film encapsulates the reality of the AIDS epidemic, in that it often touched our lives in unexpected places.

Although I have literally thousands of movies in my collection, I don't own this one. Not because I don't love it. I do. It's because I can't watch it without being overcome by emotion. Anyone who can watch Hanks' in the Opera scene, or hear Springsteen's or Young's eerie and melancholy ballads and not weep is dead inside. But in the end, Philadelphia is about life, and making it matter.