Philadelphia (1993)
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Reviews Counted: 47
Fresh: 36 | Rotten: 11
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 158,742
My Rating
Movie Info
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-winning 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
Dec 22, 1993 Wide
Sep 9, 1997
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Watch It Now
Cast
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Tom Hanks
Andrew Beckett -
Denzel Washington
Joe Miller -
Jason Robards
Charles Wheeler -
Mary Steenburgen
Belinda Conine -
Antonio Banderas
Miguel Alvarez -
Ron Vawter
Bob Seidman -
Charles Napier
Judge Garnett -
Joanne Woodward
Sarah Beckett -
Andre B. Blake
Young Man in Pharmacy -
Robert W. Castle
Bud Beckett -
Daniel Chapman
Clinic Storyteller -
Roger Corman
Mr. Laird -
Ann Dowd
Jill Beckett -
David Drake
Bruno -
Charles Glenn
Kenneth Killcoyne -
Paul Lazar
Dr. Klenstein -
John Bedford Lloyd
Matt Beckett -
Roberta Maxwell
Judge Tate -
Warren Miller
Mr. Finley -
Joey Perillo
Filko -
Lauren Roselli
Iris -
Anna Deavere Smith
Anthea Burton -
Daniel von Bargen
Jury Foreman -
Tracey Walter
Librarian -
Bradley Whitford
Jamey Collins -
Kathryn Witt
Melissa Benedict -
Julius "Dr. J" Erving
Himself -
Obba Babatundé
Jerome Green -
Gene Borkan
Bailiff -
Jordan Cael
The Jury -
Tony Fitzpatrick
Bartender -
James B. Howard
Dexter Smith -
Buzz Kilman
"Crutches" -
Adam Le Fevre
Jill's Husband -
Harry Northrup
The Jury -
Jim Roche
"Not Adam and Steve" -
Stephanie Roth
Rachel Smilow -
Lewis Walker
"Punchline" -
Lawrence T. Wrentz
The Jury -
Gary Goetzman
Guido Paonessa -
Kenneth Utt
The Jury -
Donna Hamilton
Angela Medina -
Dodie Demme
The Jury -
Randy Aaron Fink
E.R. Doctor -
Ira Flitter
Andrew's Friend -
Jane Moore
Lydia Glines -
Steve Vignari
The Jury -
-
Lucas Platt
Robert -
Robert Ridgely
Walter Kenton -
Lisa Summerour
Lisa Miller -
Paul Moore
Hospital Patient -
-
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Philadelphia Trailer & Photos
All Critics (47) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (37) | Rotten (11) | DVD (15)
[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 disease.
Top CriticSafe and apolitical it may be, but Philadelphia succeeds as a deeply affecting humanist drama.
"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 works in safely predictable ways.
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.
The story is timely and powerful, and the performances of Hanks and Washington assure that the characters will not immediately vanish into obscurity.
This AIDS courtroom drama is so pumped full of nitrous oxide, you could get your teeth drilled on it.
Moving, Oscared '90s drama fostered AIDS empathy.
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 an urgent problem.
The courtroom stuff is unwieldly, but everything else is brave and moving.
involving but badly cliched
The road to Philadelphia was paved with good intentions.
In the guise of piety, Philadelphia panders to a perceived straight-male majority.
Being under the PC microscope transforms Demme into the bastard offspring of Stanley Kramer and Norman Lear
Manages to be humorous and moving without being too preachy or heavy-handed.
Audience Reviews for Philadelphia
Super Reviewer
The story revolves around lawyer Andrew Beckett who is fired (he is told) for incompetence. He thinks the real reasons he is fired is because he is gay, but more importantly, because he is dying of AIDS. He feels an injustice has been done, so he teams up with an ACLU lawyer to take his former employers to court.
Tom Hanks won his first of two consecutive Oscars with this role as Andy Beckett, and yeah, he is wonderful. He gives a moving and sensitive performance- really highlighting what it is like to experience the stigmas surrounding the AIDS virus, especially at that time. As his lawyer, Denzel Washington is also top notch. I like how Washington's Joe Miller openly admits his dislike of homosexuals, but comes around when he realizes that Beckett really was unjustly let go.
The film's primarily a courtroom drama, but it's not nearly as gripping as something like A Few Good Men. I appreciate the way the film handles the subject matter, but I can't help but feel it gets a bit too heavy handed, preachy, and pretentious at times, though thankfully it's largely nuanced for a lot of it.
If going solely by the acting, this would get at least 4.5 stars, but as an overall experience I think 4 is pretty fair. It is an important work, but I think it's a bit rough around the edges, being groundbreaking and whatnot. All in all though, I do recommend it, because it is very affecting and touching.
Super Reviewer
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- Sarah Beckett: I didn't raise my children to sit at the back of the bus.
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