Philadelphia (1993)

That was an excellent one.

A Disappointing Continuation

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

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.

Seriously, the thing that stood out for me in this film was Andrew Beckett's (Tom Hanks) great family straight out of a Norman Rockwell illustration. His parents are still together after 40 years, he was raised in a large home in a good suburb, he has numerous siblings and numerous nieces and nephews, and all are accepting of his being gay and supportive of his lawsuit when he is apparently sabotaged at work and then fired for incompetence when he believes the law firm partners actually fired him because he had AIDS and was gay.This film was made almost a quarter of a century ago, and I guess to make Beckett sympathetic in those times there had to be nothing negative in his background. Thus the great family, his great intellect and passion for the law, and the solid long term partner in Miguel. His only failing - unprotected sex once in a gay porn theatre while in a relationship with Miguel. Thus the AIDS.There really is no leading lady in this film. Instead, there are two leading men. Andrew Beckett as the plaintiff who cannot find a lawyer to take his case, and Denzel Washington as the attorney who ultimately takes his case, although he is initially scared of Andy, scared of AIDS, repulsed by the idea of gay people. Washington as attorney Joe Miller is portrayed as a devoted family man and flamboyant personal injury lawyer who thinks no plaintiff is too stupid to defend - numerous warning signs, plaintiff ignores them, plaintiff falls into manhole, for example. Yet he will not take Andy's case, initially. It's only after he sees a connection as to how he is treated at the public library for being African American and how Andy is treated there for being obviously ill of AIDS does he change his mind.Where the great acting lies is in the growing friendship between Andy and Joe as they work on the case together. It is a subtle gradual shift in Joe's outlook until at the end, he buys a bottle of Dom Perignon to give to Andy in the hospital when, due to the price, he would not buy a bottle of that same champagne to celebrate the birth of his own child at the beginning of the film.Honorable mention to Jason Robards as the chief partner of the law firm being sued who is more upset about the indignity of being hauled before the Philadelphia legal establishment as a civil defendant than he is about any possible loss of money, and to Joanne Woodward as Andy's mom who keeps a stiff upper lip in front of her son, yet the fact that he is dying in front of her is tearing her up. Sorry Mary Steenburgen, you are a great actress, but you just don't have me believing that you "hate gays", but you do have me believing you are a great attorney.Today, lots of the characterizations may leave you feeling like you were hit over the head with a sledge hammer by Captain Obvious, but remember the time frame. People still had preconceived notions about homosexuals as in they must be deviant or have had something in their past that made them "that way", and they were definitely scared of AIDS and still not sure it was that hard to contract. Stick around for the great acting by Washington and Hanks and a host of supporting players. And also stick around for the final scene. It will jerk at your heartstrings.

Everything is good and Andy (Tom) is a well respected and a great attorney but his life choose to take him on different path. As he falls from his highest point to the lowest he goes through many different things, both emotional and physical. Joe (Denzel) is attorney that is going to help him fight for his rights and prove that every man is equal and deserves a fair treating. It's incredible how powerful human beings are and same goes for Joe that in first was repelled by Andy and after seeing how he is ready to fight for himself, he decided to help him. Nerves and will that Andy put into this case were humongous and he brings every little emotion to screen and puts quite a experience for everyone watching. It shows how people are treated as not equal and that there are so much judgment in a lot of humans. Some of the scene were a little choppy and maybe tried to be bring some feeling but didn't quiet succeeded. Magnificent and moving performance by Tom Hanks which just left mouths shut and projected so much emotions, pain and fight for right things. Denzel also puts up a great performance and shows how humans are great and willing to fight for another. Musical piece that played is also very refreshing and amazing. 3.5/4

Philadelphia is a good movie with a reasonably well developed storyline and an outstanding cast. The highlight of the film and the thing that holds it all together is without a doubt the performances, Tom Hanks is a down on his luck homosexual, he is believable in every moment, a well deserved Oscar win. Denzel Washington also shines as his homophobic lawyer who is still willing to win his case, the bond that forms between them throughout the movie is terrific and the main reason I did not rate this lower. My main disappointment was that it was, to put it bluntly, cheesy, we are expected to care for these characters before we even know anything about them, and it was clear that the director was hoping to have us in tears. The delivery of the emotional scenes was too straight forward that you could not get teary eyed. This may not be a problem for some viewers, but I found it very dated, it's hard to get sucked in to a story about gay rights when that has improved so much today, as well as that it portrays AIDS as a deadly disease, which of course it was back then, but today it's not a big deal which makes it harder to feel genuine concern for Andrew. While it has many imperfections, the performances are terrific and if you're a fan of Hanks and Washington, which you certainly should be, then it's worth the watch. When a gay lawyer is unfairly fired from work, he hires a homophobic man to take the case. Best Performance: Tom Hanks