Slowburning courtdrama about Tom Hanks sueing his boss for being fired because he has got Aids. Not suited for those who want to see a cheery Tom Hanks movie, because "Philadelphia" is serious stuff, but very enticing nonetheless, for those who like hours long of courtroom dialogues intermixed with sentimental scenes of Tom Hanks dying of Aids. Despite this seemingly depressing story it is still a feel good movie, but one with a few heartwrenching tears.Acting is really terrific. I think it is one of the best dramatic roles Tom Hanks has ever played. Because of that I have to skip some parts of the movie because I would otherwise get to emotional and teary eyed. There are some really grand dramatic scenes which give me goosebumps just thinking about them. Director Jonathan Demme really made one of his best work in his entire carreer with "Philadelphia". His other masterpiece would be the well known "Silence of the Lambs". Jonathan Demma has got the talent to make characters become real life like. And in "Philadelphia" that means that we get to share the struggle of Tom Hanks close up, as if we were his family. Very touching. You gotta understand that this movie was released in the nineties, a period in which Aids was still often wrongfully being associated with homosexuals. Lots of fear and repulsion of Aids expressed by characters in the movie doesnt make sense nowadays anymore. Everybody now knows Aids is not a disease of homosexuals solely. Everybody knows that you dont get contaminated with Aids by just shaking hands or hugging. But all these negative prejudices were still floating around in mass media back in the nineties. For that reason this movie has become a bit dated now, although it was rather groundbreaking back then, certainly for Hollywood standards. How many big box office movies about homosexuals are out there? Just a tiny few. This fight for equal rights for homosexuals which is portrayed in this movie still makes it worth watching nowadays, because discrimination is still rampant. My only real criticism of this movie is that it still remains a cliche Hollywood movie which has to be sold to the masses and therefore a lot of sugarcoated melodrama is added to the story. Although the balance between sugarcoated sentiment and real drama is balanced fairly enough to please both the feel good loving masses and those who long for more true to life drama.

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.

Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) is a promising lawyer who works for traditional office in Philadelphia. After discovering that he is a carrier of the AIDS virus, Andrew is fired from the company. He hires Joe Miller services (Denzel Washington), a black lawyer who is homophobic. During the trial, this man is forced to face his own fears and prejudices. Philadelphia is a movie that shows a sad story, the cast is great, Tom Hanks this great plus for me the best of the film is Denzel Washington this excellent, the cast also includes Mary Steenburgen, Jason Robards, Antonio Banderas, and etc, some operational affected, most all are well, the direction is Jonathan Demme, who directed the amazing the Silence of the Lambs, the script is good, the film is longer, is not dragged, and the trail is very good , Philadelphia is very good movie with great performances from Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, and a great direction of Jonathan Demme. Note 8.3

This movie made me cry like a baby when I first saw it, and still does now. It shows humanity, compassion, love and loss. People really can be beautiful if they try just a little. This ground-breaking, historically-significant, and realistic film from director, Jonathan Demme was one of the first major mainstream studio produce films to confront the AIDS issue from a medical, political, and societal point of view. Inspired by the true stories of attorneys Geoffrey Bowers & Clarence B. Cain, who, successfully sued the law firm that fired them in one of the first AIDS discrimination cases of wrongful dismissal. The movie loosely create a similar fictional story of a gay lawyer, Andrew Becket (Tom Hanks), having to sue his law firm over job discrimination when he got contracted with HIV/AIDS virus, with the help of a personal injury lawyer/friend, Joe Miller (Denzel Washington). Written by Ron Nyswaner, the movie had some controversy when it was first released, because how similar, the fictional story of Philadelphia was to Geoffrey Bowers. The family of Bowers, sued the writers and producers of the film, because of this, but it was quickly settled out of court. Although this movie was well-intentioned and compelling, it was also criticized by gay groups at the time, for the studio trying to attempted to block the casting of the HIV-positive, actor Ron Vawternote , until director Jonathan Demme pointed out how hypocritical this would be in the face of the film's message. Another thing, that got gay groups mad, is downplaying the affectionate romance between Andrew Becket and his lover, Miguel Alvarez (Antonio Banderas); as well, as not allowing the character to seem like anything less than the patron saint of AIDS victims. Yes, the character seem like American Boy Scout, however, in my opinion, I don't mind, the many compromises for mainstream audiences. After all, it got me, to watch the movie, when I wouldn't have watch it, otherwise. If anything, the main character of the film is arguably Joe, as he is the one to go through character development. It's nice to see him, warm up to the idea of helping Andrew, without feeling too preachy. Coming after HBO-TV docu-drama, 'And the Band Played On' about the growing AIDS crisis. The presence of two major American straight actors, Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington really helped to broaden awareness about the problematic disease. It also help bridged actor Tom Hanks' earlier career as a comedian to the more sober and serious side of his dramatic career. Tom Hanks is amazing in this role. The fact that Hanks lost 35 pounds and thinned his hair in order to appear sickly for the role, shows how committed he was, to the role. He really gave a deeply felt, carefully nuanced performance that deserves an Oscar. I'm pretty glad, he did win, Best Actor that year. I also love the fact that Hanks' Oscar acceptance speech, also help inspired the conflict in 1997's In & Out. It's also funny to hear that Denzel Washington, on the other hand, was asked to gain a few pounds for his role. Washington, to the chagrin of Hanks, who practically starved himself for the role, would often eat chocolate bars in front of him. Wow, what a joker! The drama also made effective use of the music. 'Philadelphia' has some of the best music, made for a film. Composer Howard Shore's 'Precedent" is still one of the purest track I have ever heard. Then, there are the fans and critic's favorite song, 'Streets of Philadelphia' by singer, Bruce Springsteen whom music video and the opening of the movie, able to shows the city in all its aspects — both the bright, shiny downtown landmarks, and the poor areas — minority, homeless, urban blight, and decay. While, it is a tear-jerking song. In my opinion, the song that deserve the Oscar, wasn't Bruce Springsteen, but music artist, Neil Young's song, 'Philadelphia'. In my opinion, the film without Neil Young's song, wouldn't have touched as many as it did, because of it. That song still makes me cry, when I hear it. It's such as a beautiful journey of emotional. Overall: This groundbreaking and moving drama is absolutely astonishing. A must watch for anybody with a heart.