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Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards, Mary Steenburgen, Antonio Banderas ... see more see more... , Ron Vawter , Charles Napier , Joanne Woodward , Andre B. Blake , Robert W. Castle , Daniel Chapman , Roger Corman , Ann Dowd , David Drake , Charles Glenn , Paul Lazar , John Bedford Lloyd , Roberta Maxwell , Warren Miller , Joey Perillo , Lauren Roselli , Anna Deavere Smith , Daniel von Bargen , Tracey Walter , Bradley Whitford , Kathryn Witt , Julius "Dr. J" Erving , Obba Babatundé , Gene Borkan , Jordan Cael , Tony Fitzpatrick , James B. Howard , Buzz Kilman , Adam Le Fevre , Harry Northrup , Jim Roche , Stephanie Roth , Lewis Walker , Lawrence T. Wrentz , Gary Goetzman , Kenneth Utt , Donna Hamilton , Dodie Demme , Randy Aaron Fink , Ira Flitter , Jane Moore , Steve Vignari , Howard Feuer , Lucas Platt , Robert Ridgely , Lisa Summerour , Paul Moore , Karen Finley (II) , Karen Finley

At the time of its release, Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia was the first big-budget Hollywood film to tackle the medical, political, and social issues of AIDS. Tom Hanks, in his first Academy Award-win... read more read more...ning performance, plays Andrew Beckett, a talented lawyer at a stodgy Philadelphia law firm. The homosexual Andrew has contracted AIDS but fears informing his firm about the disease. The firm's senior partner, Charles Wheeler (Jason Robards), assigns Andrew a case involving their most important client. Andrew begins diligently working on the case, but soon the lesions associated with AIDS are visible on his face. Wheeler abruptly removes Andrew from the case and fires him from the firm. Andrew believes he has been fired because of his illness and plans to fight the firm in court. But because of the firm's reputation, no lawyer in Philadelphia will risk handling his case. In desperation, Andrew hires Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), a black lawyer who advertises on television, mainly handling personal injury cases. Miller dislikes homosexuals but agrees to take the case for the money and exposure. As Miller prepares for the courtroom battle against one of the law firm's key litigators, Belinda Conine (Mary Steenburgen), Miller begins to realize the discrimination practiced against Andrew is no different from the discrimination Miller himself has to battle against. The cast also includes Antonio Banderas as Andrew's partner, Joanne Woodward as Andrew's mother, and Stephanie Roth as Joe's wife. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Flixster Users

87% liked it

158,742 ratings

Critics

77% liked it

47 critics

PG-13, 2 hr. 5 min.

Directed by: Jonathan Demme

Release Date: December 22, 1993

Keywords: sad

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DVD Release Date: September 9, 1997

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Stats: 5,837 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (5,837)

  • jmanard52
    June 29, 2008
    jmanard52
    Hanks and Washington shine. This was a great movie and it came out at the right time.
  • ironclad1609
    January 2, 2012
    ironclad1609
    A brave film for its time, this movie touches the aspects of how AIDS and homosexuality as they are being viewed by the majority of the uniformed mass and weaves it all into a compelling court drama. While the great opening sequence with Bruce Springsteen's instant classic tune s... read morehows us the city of brotherly love from its more and less glamorous sides, things soon get up close and personal, just like the fantastic camera work that often turns the audience into a witness of the events on screen. Tom Hanks delivers his strongest performance to date and finds a great counterpart with Denzel Washington. The acting is top notch down to the smallest roles, but what makes this such a enthralling and deeply moving film is that it's the old story of justice being done in a theme that had not been touched yet by a major film before 1993. And in the end, none of that matters anymore. The last five minutes just mourn a great human being with old super 8 videos of his childhood and anyone who can still hold their tears back at that point can't possibly have a heart. Outstanding.
  • fb1672039553
    December 4, 2011
    fb1672039553
    This movie was made for a specific audience that no longer exists. As a fictional story it doesn't really narrate an honest tale as much as set up moment after moment to preach about prejudice, homophobia and AIDS. These lessons are now obvious 20 years later, and the film's own... read more stereotyping of a gay person is blazingly obvious (The gay man likes to have gay sex in a gay porn theater. The gay man is actually sensitive and wistfully cries during an opera. The gay man can't resist putting on a military uniform for Halloween). Unfortunately, this story was ripped off from a real victim who died only a few years earlier than this production, and the producers didn't ask for permission or give any ounce of credit to the man. They were sued by the victim's family for unacknowledged exploitation of his life. That leaves a bitter taste.
  • FiLmCrAzY
    June 5, 2011
    FiLmCrAzY
    This is a very compelling movie and outlines the differculties that homosexuals had at one stage!
    its a story that you can relate feel compension and emphasize with the storyline is very good !
    the acting was amazing with tom hanks giving his superb acting once again with denze... read morel also pulling in an amazing performance!
    i couldnt feel but let down and disappointed by this movie i had high expectations but the movie didnt deliver especially towards the end i think the movie could have been a bit more emotional and pull at my heartstrings a bit more but nevertheless a decent compelling movie that is worth the watch!
  • jennifxu
    May 1, 2011
    jennifxu
    If anything, this made me more afraid of AIDS than less, what with those boils growing on Tom Hanks's face. Philadelphia is a touch didactic - which I guess it has to be given the subject matter and the time period - but it's intriguing watching people interact in the face of a c... read morerisis.
  • emilebond007
    December 6, 2010
    emilebond007
    I love Tom Hanks. I love him, I admire him. Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, and now this ?! I thought he gave a great performance in his latest movie, Charlie Wilson's War, but I have now officially seen Hanks's best performance (after Forrest Gump).
    This movie ... read morewas, to me, truly moving and heartbreaking. Jonathan Demme did a great job as director, but the script - and Tom Hanks - is what supported the whole movie. Plus, the soundtrack was terrific.

    A movie I'll remember for th rest of my days.
  • rjayhutchinson
    July 30, 2010
    rjayhutchinson
    Those who know me know that I'm an ardent supporter of gay rights, so don't take this the wrong way. "Philadelphia" is, pure and simple, a gay rights propaganda film. Its purpose is to make a point rather than to tell a story. Its story isn't told in nearly as much detail or as t... read morehoroughly as it could have been. The writers instead opt to remind us, time and time again, that the public doesn't like homosexuals and that homosexuals aren't bad people. Great, we get it.

    I watched "Philadelphia" to see an interesting legal story about a man suing his employer for wrongful termination, and instead I get a propaganda film disguised as a big-box drama. If you're going to the movies to watch the filmmaker make a point, "Philadelphia" should serve you well. If, like myself, you're there to see good, quality storytelling, this film may not be for you.
  • jjnxn
    April 15, 2010
    jjnxn
    many better movies on this subject, watch longtime companion instead
  • puffchunk
    January 12, 2010
    puffchunk
    Yet another mediocre movie wins awards for being contraversial.
  • ScoopOnline
    December 9, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    OUTSTANDING!

View All Philadelphia Reviews

Critic Reviews

Todd McCarthy
October 10, 2008
Todd McCarthy, Variety

[An] extremely well-made message picture about tolerance, justice and discrimination is pitched at mainstream audiences, befitting its position as the first major Hollywood film to directly tackle the... Full Review

Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

"Philadelphia" mostly succeeds in being forceful, impassioned and moving, sometimes even rising to the full range of emotion that its subject warrants. But too often, even at its most assertive, it wo... Full Review

Rita Kempley
January 1, 2000
Rita Kempley, Washington Post

It's less like a film by Demme than the best of Frank Capra. It is not just canny, corny and blatantly patriotic, but compassionate, compelling and emotionally devastating. Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

The story is timely and powerful, and the performances of Hanks and Washington assure that the characters will not immediately vanish into obscurity. Full Review

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

This AIDS courtroom drama is so pumped full of nitrous oxide, you could get your teeth drilled on it. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Philadelphia breaks no new dramatic ground ... And yet Philadelphia is quite a good film, on its own terms. Full Review

Heather Boerner
December 18, 2010
Heather Boerner, Common Sense Media

Moving, Oscared '90s drama fostered AIDS empathy. Full Review

Geoff Andrew
June 24, 2006
Geoff Andrew, Time Out

Safe and apolitical it may be, but Philadelphia succeeds as a deeply affecting humanist drama. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
April 21, 2006
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Wearing its heart on its sleeves, this well-intentioned but soft and compromised AIDS drama may nonetheless perform the same function that Paltoon or Schindler's List have: Change public opinion about... Full Review

Rob Thomas
October 25, 2005
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)

The courtroom stuff is unwieldly, but everything else is brave and moving.

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