Philadelphia (1993)

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

Won 2 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Fearing it would compromise his career, lawyer Andrew Beckett hides his homosexuality and HIV status at a powerful Philadelphia law firm. But his secret is exposed when a colleague spots the illness's telltale lesions. Fired shortly afterwards, Beckett resolves to sue for discrimination, teaming up with Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), the only lawyer willing to help. In court, they face one of his ex-employers top litigators, Belinda Conine.

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Plot Keywords:

aids | city name in title | listening to opera | lawyer | gay | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some graphic language and thematic material

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 January 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

At Risk

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$26,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$143,433, 26 December 1993, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$77,324,422

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$206,678,440, 31 December 1994

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures,Clinica Estetico

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

When Andy steps out of Joe's office (after Joe's rejection to become Andy's lawyer), you see him standing and reflecting on his situation. He turns his head to the left, and you can see the lining of a rubber mask on his neck(used to make Hanks' head look shaved).

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Quotes

Young Man in Pharmacy: How's the trial going?
Joe Miller: Excuse me?
Young Man in Pharmacy: It's a great case I saw you on TV I'm a law student at Penn State
Joe Miller: It's a good school Penn what year are you in?
Young Man in Pharmacy: Second, I just wanted to tell you this case is tremendously important I just wanted to let you know you're doing a fantastic job
Joe Miller: [gives him his business card and they shake hands] When you graduate you give me a call.
Young Man in Pharmacy: Thank you very much, would you like to have a drink with me? I just finished a game and could really use a beer
Joe Miller: No I can't my wife's ...
[...]

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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."

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Connections

Referenced in Wedding Daze (2006)

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Soundtracks

It's In Your Eyes
Written by LeRonald Walker and Samuel Waymon
Produced by Anton Sanko
Performed by Pauletta Washington

User Reviews

Compelling, but over the top

To me this movie is both a relevant and compelling story, as well as a model of overcompensation. I feel as though Philadelphia was trying desperately to show a touching, human side to the AIDS epidemic, but at the same time overly conscious of the lack of compassion much of middle America has for homosexual victims of AIDS. As a result, our protagonist Andrew Beckett is made to be a virtual superman. I would have had more respect for the film if they'd made him more like you and me. If he had been a bright, successful lawyer with friends, a loving family, and a serious relationship that would have made him someone we could really relate to. Instead, Andrew was a legal phenom, THE rising star, future senior partner, the future leader of the law firm. And in his personal life, he was the most popular person at his firm, beloved by all. More than that, he was the most popular member of his whole family, he was brilliant, affable, going straight to the top, simply AMAZING!!! Doesn't it seem like they tried too hard to get us on his side? To show the human story of AIDS, show us an actual person, not superman. That is problem with Philadelphia.

Having said that, Tom Hanks was fantastic, as usual. Denzel was also rock solid, his character basically representing all of us, the general public, the ones who don't empathize with gays because they either don't know any, or aren't conscious they know any, and fail to appreciate that they are real people and not merely stereotypes. His enlightenment with regards to this is one aspect of the movie I felt they came through on exceptionally.

Philadelphia was an important story to be told, for just like so many other human tragedies, for us the unaffected to be able to see just one example up close and personal, it carries so much more weight than all the news reports and statistics in the world. I hope it had some positive impact in creating compassion among the general public. I just wish the film makers hadn't felt it would be necessary to go to superhuman lengths to give us a character we could feel for.