858. Philadelphia (1993)

Running Time: 125 minutes
Directed By: Jonathan Demme
Written By: Ron Nyswaner
Main Cast: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards, Antonio Banderas, Joanne Woodward
Click here to view the trailer

OSCAR BAIT

Last night was a night to get a little random and let my wife do the movie picking for me, as she turned to the streaming portion of Netflix and picked "Philadelphia" - the first mainstream film about AIDS/HIV, starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington.

Andrew Beckett (Hanks) is a hotshot lawyer working out of Philadelphia and he's just been assigned to his firm's newest and most important client. Beckett works at the law firm of Wyatt, Wheeler, Hellerman, Tetlow and Brown and none of the partners know that Andrew is a homosexual or that he has been diagnosed with AIDS. When an important document that Andrew was supposed to have delivered to the office, comes up missing, Andrew is fired for incompetence. However, Andrew suspects that the document was intentionally misplaced by his superiors, so that they could use that as an excuse to fire him, not wanting to be around him because of his illness. Andrew visits lawyer after lawyer, and no one is willing to take his case and be forced to battle Charles Wheeler (Robards) in court. Eventually Andrew knocks on the door of Joe Miller (Washington), a television attorney who is admittedly homophobic. After initially turning down Andrew, Joe runs into him weeks later at the library and agrees to take Beckett's case. From there it's a knockdown drag out in the courtroom, as Andrew's health rapidly deteriorates.

I don't really have a WHOLE LOT to say about "Philadelphia". I used the term "Oscar Bait" above, because that's exactly what this is. I've talked about movies like this before, many of which were from THE BOOK. For instance films like "Reversal of Fortune", "The King's Speech", "Saving Private Ryan" and so many others. Most of the time I'm able to overlook the obvious intentions that the filmmaker's behind these films have, to take home a little golden statue and enjoy them while they last - "Philadelphia" is no exception". I enjoyed "Philadelphia", for probably most of the same reasons that the critics and the Academy enjoyed it - because it's a very good film that tackles a very touchy subject. Many films since "Philadelphia" have tackled the subject of AIDS/HIV, but I don't think any of them have done it with the vigor that Tom Hanks put forth and I'll be damned if he didn't REALLY earn that Oscar with his portrayal of Andrew Beckett. There's a scene, right after Beckett leaves the office of Joe Miller, when he's initially denied Miller's services, where Beckett stands on the sidewalk and nearly breaks down in tears, realizing that he's helpless in his eventual fight. There's no dialogue, just a hint of music and in that scene Tom Hanks says so much without even opening his mouth. There was something very powerful in watching a black man and a gay man fight against a group of racist, yet powerful men, in the city where it was deemed that "all men are created equal".

SPOILER ALERT!

As far as the rest of the cast goes, they all range from decent to very good, with the most notable being Jason Robards and his portrayal of the bigot Charles Wheeler. I enjoy how the film doesn't suffocate us by making us spend the entire duration of the second half inside a courtroom, but rather lets us breathe between testimonies, inter-cutting courtroom scenes with other scenes, outside of the trial. Throughout the picture characters develop and not in such a way that makes it blatantly obvious that they were trying to make these people learn lessons, especially Joe Miller. It's rational that Joe Miller would begin to see life through the eyes of Andrew Beckett and maybe become less of a homophobe, which is what happens.

One last comment, before I wrap this up. I loved the ending! I loved how they showed us the very end of Andrew's life and the beginnings of it, back to back and in the reverse order. Andrew dies and at his funeral we see people watching home movies of Andrew, a toddler, playing at the beach, playing baseball and just being a kid. I don't know why, but I thought it was a brilliant way to end the picture, showing us a child who has no earthly idea what we'll ultimately come of his life, or that he'll contract this deadly, painful disease and have to fight for his respect in the midst of a courtroom.

RATING: 7.5/10 As it stands, this has a good shot of getting a mention on the "Ten Worth Mentioning" section of the TOP 20, but I really can't see it scaling that TOP 20 itself. However, who knows what I'll think when the time comes.

MOVIES WATCHED: 364
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 637

December 11, 2011 10:49pm