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Critics Consensus: Philadelphia indulges in some unfortunate clichés in its quest to impart a meaningful message, but its stellar cast and sensitive direction are more than enough to compensate.
Critic Consensus: Philadelphia indulges in some unfortunate clichés in its quest to impart a meaningful message, but its stellar cast and sensitive direction are more than enough to compensate.
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All Critics (52) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (41) | Rotten (11) | DVD (5)
Philadelphia may not be the film Demme's fans expect--its emotionalism is unfiltered by cool. But it has the power to open more than a few blinkered hearts.
[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.
Safe 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.
This AIDS courtroom drama is so pumped full of nitrous oxide, you could get your teeth drilled on it.
Philadelphia breaks no new dramatic ground ... And yet Philadelphia is quite a good film, on its own terms.
Philadelphia, apart from having talented actors delivering remarkable performances, is a piece of history that anyone with a heart and a sense of justice can understand.
Sparks of acting brilliance rescue the cautious, sometimes craven script, as does Demme's inventive direction. Though the plotting reeks of safety-first commercialism, the camerawork has the dangerous intimacy of independent film-making.
Jonathan Demme's thoughtful human drama was certainly not the first movie to confront the AIDS crisis, but it was, even in the conventional skin of a courtroom drama, the most heartbreaking and passionate undertaking of its kind.
What remains most striking about Philadelphia may be the...conspicuous emphasis on intense close-ups. They force an inescapable emotional intimacy in relation to issues the mainstream, at least at the time, would rather have looked away from. [Blu-ray]
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.
One of the first movies to deal with delicate matters like AIDS, homosexuality and intolerance at the time of its release. Although not altogether memorable, this is a praise-worthy effort that relies on some great performances and proves to be a deeply touching experience.
Super Reviewer
Philadelphia is heartfelt and well-performed despite the simple plot. Tom Hanks & Denzel Washington provide remarkable charisma and chemistry in this film along with a creative direction from Jonathan Demme, making this piece an underrated film of the 90s. 4/5
Upon its release, this was a very important and groundbreaking film since it was the first major Hollywood effort to deal with the medical, social, and political issues of AIDS. 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.
Hanks and Washington shine. This was a great movie and it came out at the right time.
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