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Philadelphia

  • 1993
  • PG-13
  • 2h 5m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
267K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,678
205
Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington in Philadelphia (1993)
Official Trailer
Play trailer2:59
5 Videos
76 Photos
Legal DramaDrama

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

  • Director
    • Jonathan Demme
  • Writer
    • Ron Nyswaner
  • Stars
    • Tom Hanks
    • Denzel Washington
    • Roberta Maxwell
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.7/10
    267K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    2,678
    205
    • Director
      • Jonathan Demme
    • Writer
      • Ron Nyswaner
    • Stars
      • Tom Hanks
      • Denzel Washington
      • Roberta Maxwell
    • 356User reviews
    • 61Critic reviews
    • 66Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 2 Oscars
      • 20 wins & 23 nominations total

    Videos5

    Philadelphia
    Trailer 2:59
    Philadelphia
    Philadelphia
    Trailer 2:54
    Philadelphia
    Philadelphia
    Trailer 2:54
    Philadelphia
    Philadelphia
    Trailer 0:31
    Philadelphia
    How Movies and TV Shaped Our Perception of HIV/AIDS
    Clip 4:54
    How Movies and TV Shaped Our Perception of HIV/AIDS
    'Philadelphia' | Anniversary Mashup
    Video 1:37
    'Philadelphia' | Anniversary Mashup

    Photos76

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    + 70
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    Top cast99+

    Edit
    Tom Hanks
    Tom Hanks
    • Andrew Beckett
    Denzel Washington
    Denzel Washington
    • Joe Miller
    Roberta Maxwell
    Roberta Maxwell
    • Judge Tate
    Buzz Kilman
    • 'Crutches'
    Karen Finley
    Karen Finley
    • Dr. Gillman
    Daniel Chapman
    Daniel Chapman
    • Clinic Storyteller
    Mark Sorensen Jr.
    • Clinic Patient
    Jeffrey Williamson
    • Tyrone
    Charles Glenn
    • Kenneth Killcoyne
    Ron Vawter
    Ron Vawter
    • Bob Seidman
    Anna Deavere Smith
    Anna Deavere Smith
    • Anthea Burton
    Stephanie Roth Haberle
    Stephanie Roth Haberle
    • Rachel Smilow
    • (as Stephanie Roth)
    Lisa Talerico
    • Shelby
    Joanne Woodward
    Joanne Woodward
    • Sarah Beckett
    Jason Robards
    Jason Robards
    • Charles Wheeler
    Robert Ridgely
    Robert Ridgely
    • Walter Kenton
    Chandra Wilson
    Chandra Wilson
    • Chandra
    Ford Wheeler
    • Alan
    • Director
      • Jonathan Demme
    • Writer
      • Ron Nyswaner
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews356

    7.7266.8K
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    Featured reviews

    8Angel-77

    Gay Men Are Macho Too

    Philadelphia is a truly amazing movie and a touching story. Tom Hanks plays a lawyer who has been stricken with a horrible disease. He plays a convincing role as Andrew Beckett, a man who knows the meaning of justice and knows what exactly his rights are. What Mr. Hanks also accomplishes with this role is he breaks free from the stereotypes society has dictated on the average gay man. Andrew Beckett is not feminine in any way, he does not have a flair for shoe shopping or hold his arms limp-wristed or talk with a lisp. For these reasons, it has been said that Tom Hanks was not believable as a gay man. I strongly disagree. Andrew Beckett is a normal man who enjoys smoking cigars and takes joy in the law. Who would think he was gay? This is precisely the point the movie is trying to make. A gay man may be walking among you, every day you may see him at school, may play raquetball with him at the gym, may work late hours with him at the office... but yet you'd never suspect he is gay because he does not wear loafers decorated with tassels and he has a low-pitched voice. Men are men, whether gay or not, and should be treated as such -- gays do not deserve special treatment but they deserve equal treatment. Because in most areas, gay men are just like straight men. I commend Tom Hanks for showing the world that gay men can be just as manly as any other. His Oscar was well-deserved and the movie was amazingly ground-breaking.
    10Red-125

    Still a powerful movie after 25 years

    Philadelphia (1993) was directed by Jonathan Demme. The AIDS epidemic started in the early 1980's, and movies about AIDS started to appear in the mid-1980s. However, to my knowledge, Philadelphia was the first high-budget, mainstream film about AIDS to appear on the screen.

    TriStar certainly provided the funds to attract an all-star cast. Tom Hanks portrays brilliant lawyer Andrew Beckett. When Beckett is fired from his high-prestige law firm, no lawyer wants to touch his case for wrongful dismissal. Denzel Washington plays Joe Miller, who agrees to represent Beckett. (Joe is himself uncomfortable with AIDS. However, he knows injustice when he sees it.) Antonio Banderas plays Beckett's loving partner, Miguel Alvarez. Jason Robards is perfectly cast as Charles Wheeler, Beckett's mentor until he becomes Beckett's enemy. All four men are superstars, and it's easy to see why.

    The film doesn't just have star power in the leading roles. Great actors like Roberta Maxwell and Joanne Woodward have small supporting roles.

    The movie is courageous in facing AIDS directly. In the 1980's and 1990's, people distinguished between "good AIDS" and "bad AIDS." Good AIDS was AIDS that people contracted from blood transfusions. So, the thought was that these people were innocent victims.

    Bad AIDS came from (mostly) men having sex with men. In retrospect, we can see the moral error in this good vs. evil judgment. But, at the time, gay sex was considered evil, and many people thought that gay men with AIDS deserved the disease.

    How this prejudice played out inside and outside the courtroom represents the plot of the movie. It's very strong and truly heart-wrenching.

    We saw this film at the excellent Dryden Theatre at George Eastman Museum in Rochester, NY. It was shown at Rochester's wonderful ImageOut, the LGBT Film Festival. Almost all of the movies shown at ImageOut are new, cutting-edge films. Philadelphia was shown under the heading, "ImageOut of the Archives." The movie was made almost 25 years ago, and it's being shown again to mark that anniversary.

    Philadelphia is an important film, and shouldn't be missed. It will work very well on the small screen. Find it and watch it. (Or, as I did, watch it again.)

    P.S. Mary Steenburgen has a supporting role as Belinda Conine, the attorney representing Beckett's former law firm. I can't remember when an actor has made so strong an impression in a relatively small role. She's just what you'd expect in this context--brilliant, eloquent, with a heart that has no room for conscience or remorse. She knows that the law firm had dismissed Beckett because he had AIDS. However, that's not going to stop her in the least. It's not even going to slow her down.
    9planktonrules

    Hanks is amazing...I can see why he got an Oscar for this one.

    Although "Philadelphia" debuted decades ago, I only got to finally seeing it today. Why? Well, the film is incredibly depressing and I kept putting it off...and that might explain why you might not have yet seen it as well. It is sad...but also exceptionally well made and worth your time.

    Tom Hanks stars as Andrew Beckett, a hot-shot lawyer at one of the top law firms in Philadelphia. Despite having just been made an associate (a reward for excellent service), he suddenly finds himself fired. The firm uses an excuse--blaming a mistake he supposedly made on one recent case. But this would not account for the firing and he appears to have been fired because he's ill...suffering from AIDS. Beckett has a hard time finding a lawyer to take a wrongful termination case for him and he's too sick to do this alone. Eventually, he finds a rather homophobic lawyer (Denzel Washington) to take the case...and the second half of the film is the courtroom battle to bring justice to Andrew.

    Unlike many films, this one was filmed sequentially. This was important to do because Tom Hanks starved himself and as the movie progresses, his weight loss and excellent make up made it appear as if he was suffering the progressive effects of the disease. Hanks truly put himself out for this role...and it's among the best things he's ever done. Apart from that, it's a well made film...worth seeing and very touching. It's also fascinating to watch to see how far thinking has come regarding gay people and HIV/AIDS.
    9Bowie718

    Wonderful.

    A touching movie, which has taken the place of "The Fugitive" (1993) as my favorite movie. Tom Hanks' performance was obviously worthy of his first Oscar for his portrayal of Andrew Beckett, a gay, AIDS-stricken man who was fired from his job for what he believes to be discrimination against his sexual orientation and disease. Denzel Washington, in his portrayal of Joe Miller, the ex-homophobic who decides to help Andrew win his case, is excellent, deserving of a Best Supporting Actor award. This story of AIDS, homophobia and homosexualism is first-rate. I highly recommend this to anybody looking for a great movie.
    budmassey

    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.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The moment when Mary Steenburgen's character says that she hates the case was improvised in the moment, when the actress expressed her hate towards her role after shooting the mirror scene and Jonathan Demme encouraged her to incorporate it into the role, so the woman would seem more human.
    • Goofs
      The court stenographer doesn't seem to be actually typing, and the paper tape recording her keystrokes doesn't ever advance.
    • Quotes

      Joe Miller: Have you ever felt discriminated against at Wyatt Wheeler?

      Anthea Burton: Well, yes.

      Joe Miller: In what way?

      Anthea Burton: Well, Mr. Wheeler's secretary, Lydia, said that Mr. Wheeler had a problem with my earrings.

      Joe Miller: Really?

      Anthea Burton: Apparently Mr. Wheeler felt that they were too..."Ethnic" is the word she used. And she told me that he said that he would like it if I wore something a little less garish, a little smaller, and more "American."

      Joe Miller: What'd you say?

      Anthea Burton: I said my earrings are American. They're African-American.

    • Crazy credits
      "This motion picture was inspired in part by Geoffrey Bowers' AIDS discrimination lawsuit, the courage and love of the Angius family and the struggles of the many others who, along with their loved ones, have experienced discrimination because of AIDS."
    • Alternate versions
      The cable and network television versions of Philadelphia edit out portions of the pharmacy scene where a gay University of Pennsylvania law student attempts to pick up Joe Miller. These two versions end this scene with the law student responding "Do I?" to Joe Miller's question concerning whether Miller looked gay. In the theatrical, home video and premium channel versions, Joe Miller continues to berate the law student with bigot remarks regarding homosexuals.
    • Connections
      Edited into Die Geschichte des erotischen Films (2004)
    • Soundtracks
      Streets Of Philadelphia
      Produced by Bruce Springsteen and Chuck Plotkin

      Written and Performed by Bruce Springsteen

      Courtesy of Columbia Records

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    FAQ23

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    • What is Philadelphia about?
    • How does the movie end?
    • Is this film based on a true story?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 14, 1994 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Filadelfia
    • Filming locations
      • Furness Building, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
    • Production companies
      • TriStar Pictures
      • Clinica Estetico
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $26,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $77,446,440
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $143,433
      • Dec 26, 1993
    • Gross worldwide
      • $206,678,440
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 5 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • SDDS
      • Dolby Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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