Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Hailed as one of the first big-budget films to address the AIDS virus, 'Philadelphia' relies on its top-notch cast to chart a course through difficult themes. At the emotional core, rather than a focus on the spectacular details of the disease, the film chooses to examine the discrimination and homophobic in-tolerances that those afflicted face. The real tragedy? The social demise and stigma of the individual which precedes physical death itself.Using the courtroom setting to stage its drama, 'Philadelphia', asks some difficult questions, but then in a puzzling reversal, it discards some of its more emotional elements and decides to play it safe. Some might argue that this quiet restraint is one of the film's strengths, but this seriously derails some of the film's emotive power.There is one scene in particular that drastically alters the tone of the film. Andrew Beckett, played by Tom Hanks, interprets his favorite opera to attorney Joe Miller, a self-proclaimed homophobia. The film seems to warp at the very seams as Andrew dramatizes the opera. It's an incredibly powerful moment and a sobering vision of what could have been.Nonetheless, the film accomplishes an imperative objective. Educating the masses and altering public perception and for this reason alone, 'Philadelphia' warrants celebration.

The 1993 Oscar winning film Philadelphia is a moving film for all. Directed by Jonathan Demme (the same director of Silence of the Lambs) and starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington focuses on the case of Andrew Beckett, an HIV positive gay lawyer at a growing law firm. Upon discovery of his disease and his sexuality Beckett is wrongfully fired from his job despite just receiving a promotion. Andrew takes his case to court for violating the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which protects against employment discrimination with the help of an initially homophobic small town lawyer Joe Miller. Joe initially refused to help Andrew (commonly referred to as Andy), but after witnessing the discrimination that he faces decides to take on the case. Over the course of the film Miller begins to change his homophobic thoughts while Beckett fights to win his court case before he succumbs to the AIDS disease. The movie is high on emotions and sentimental feelings as we not only watch Andrew fight for his rights, but see aspects of their personal lives as well. The movie, for me, was incredibly well done, although there are some critiques.The movie played a great deal into feelings of either joy or sadness in the viewer instead of showing a wide variety of emotions from the characters. I felt that Andy, as an HIV positive man experiencing extreme discrimination, is very peaceful despite the events occurring around him. I personally would have enjoyed seeing really raw emotions such as anger or frustration in the characters instead of only the ones that tugged at the heartstrings. In addition to this, there is not a lot of romantic involvement between Andrew and his partner Miguel, which was a little disappointing. There was a lot of tender scenes between Joe and his wife, and missing that in the film felt like the movie was trying too hard to appeal to heterosexual audiences despite being a film about a gay man. However, this critique does come with the understanding that in order for Demme to have a successful movie he had to appeal to the broad audience he was aiming to reach, which was the heterosexual community. Despite these minor setbacks to the movie, the plot itself was a real threat to members of the LGBTQ community and does a good job showing what someone with AIDS might have to go through. In order to achieve the goal of being an emotional movie that hopefully opens the eyes of viewers to the world of AIDS, according to Demme, the film employed many cinematic techniques such as very slow music that swelters to a climax. This happens often during the scenes that took place in court, although there is a scene dedicated completely to Andy's love of opera music. For me this was a very odd scene but it depicted the struggle that Andy was going through and how the music made him feel as if he was not suffering the way that he was. It was a very emotional moment. The movie also used camera lighting and angles to depict important moments, especially between characters. For example, as Joe begins to overcome his homophobia the camera will begin to zoom in on his face while he is talking or looking at Andy. These relatively subtle moments depict the very small yet important changes that happen in Joe as the movie progresses. In terms of race, as Joe is an African American, his race is important from time to time. For example, when Joe is watching Andy in the library as he is being judged by one of the librarians, it is assumed that Joe can relate because African Americans at the time are also being discriminated against Establishing this parallel between Joe and Andy creates a bridge that leads Joe to taking on Andy's case. During this scene, once again the camera zooms in on Andy and Joe's face There is also diversity shown in the African American community. Joe is homophobic but his wife by contrast is very accepting of homosexual people and encourages Joe to change his ways. Joe is then hit on by a black gay man which sends Joe into a small fit of anger, showing that his homophobia is not going away as easily as it was believed. However, the movie as a whole is pretty diverse in racial terms, and does a great job of depicting prejudices between any race. Overall, Philadelphia is a very moving film that does a good job showing the point that it is trying to portray. Despite minor setbacks such as lack of emotional diversity and predictability, Philadelphia is an interesting insightful movie that is definitely worth watching. The characters are well developed with a strong plot, and is a nice movie for anyone of any race, creed, or sexuality. A must see for all!

This movie displays array of multiple emotions, it made me feel passionate, sorry, angry and sad at the same time. There are not many movies on this subject lurking around. it's one of those that when one makes it, it is hard to make another one about the same subject, and it really targets crucial issues of mid-late 20th century. Great act by Tom Hanks which, honestly, i was kind of expecting, followed by the dramatic scenes in "The Green mile" or in "Forrest Gump". All and all, Judging the entire effect of the movie, it was amazing. "Philadelphia is a good movie and it is especially outstanding for its time 1993, what is the most important that this movie actually provided information of how people who are infected with HIV feel like until it turns into AIDS.

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.