Philadelphia (film)

Plot

Andrew Beckett is a senior associate at Philadelphia's law firm Wyant, Wheeler, Hellerman, Tetlow, & Brown. He conceals his homosexuality and his status as an AIDS patient from others in the office. A partner in the firm, Walter Kenton, notices a lesion on Beckett's forehead. Although Beckett attributes the lesion to a racquetball injury, it indicates Kaposi's sarcoma, an AIDS-defining condition.

During the 10 days given for a case assigned to him, Beckett tries to hide his lesions by staying home from work. He finishes the paperwork for this the night before the statute of limitations for the case ends, bringing it to his office and leaving instructions for his assistants to file it the following day. However, he receives a call the next day asking for the paperwork, which cannot be found, and is informed that there are no copies on the computer's hard drive. His paperwork is finally located in an alternative location and is filed with the court at the last moment. Beckett is called to a meeting the morning afterwards where the firm's partners fire him.

Beckett believes someone deliberately hid the paperwork to give the firm an excuse to do so and that the termination is a result of his AIDS status and his sexuality. He asks ten attorneys to represent him in suing the firm for wrongful dismissal, the last of whom is African-American personal injury lawyer Joe Miller, whom Beckett previously opposed in a different case. Miller appears uncomfortable that a man with AIDS is in his office. After declining to take the case, Miller immediately visits his doctor to find out if he could have contracted the disease. The doctor explains that the routes of HIV infection do not include casual contact.

Unable to find representation from another lawyer, Beckett feels compelled to act as his own attorney. While conducting research at a law library, Miller sees Beckett at a nearby table. A librarian approaches Beckett and says that he has found a case of AIDS discrimination for him. As others in the library begin to stare uneasily, the librarian suggests Beckett go to a private room. Seeing parallels in racial discrimination, Miller approaches Beckett, reviews the material he has gathered, and agrees to take the case.

As the case goes to trial, the partners of the firm take the stand, each claiming that Beckett was incompetent and that he had deliberately tried to hide his condition. The defense repeatedly point out Beckett brought AIDS upon himself via willing gay sex with strangers and is therefore not a victim. To demonstrate Kenton would recognize the lesion as a symptom of AIDS-related illness, his former co-worker Melissa Benedict—who contracted AIDS after a blood transfusion—is brought in to testify. She mentions how his facial expressions showed discomfort around her because of it. Kenton denies recognizing Beckett's lesion, and insists Benedict was an innocent victim due to the transfusion, unlike Beckett. To prove that the lesions would have been visible, Miller asks Beckett to unbutton his shirt while on the witness stand, revealing that his lesions are indeed visible and recognizable as such. Throughout the trial, Miller's homophobia slowly disappears as he and Beckett bond from working together.

Beckett collapses and is hospitalized after Charles Wheeler, the partner he most admired, testifies against him. Another partner, Bob Seidman, confesses that he suspected Beckett had AIDS but never told anyone and refused to let him discuss it, which he deeply regrets. During Beckett's hospital stay, the jury votes in his favor, awarding him back pay, damages for pain and suffering, and punitive damages, totaling over $5 million. Miller visits the visibly frail Beckett in the hospital after the verdict and overcomes his fear enough to touch Beckett's face. After the family leaves the room, Beckett tells his lover Miguel Alvarez that he is "ready". At the Miller home later that night, Miller and his wife are awakened by a phone call from Alvarez, who tells them that Beckett has died. A memorial is held at Beckett's home, where many mourners, including Miller and his family, view home movies of Beckett as a happy child.

Cast

• Tom Hanks as Andrew Beckett
• Denzel Washington as Joe Miller
• Jason Robards as Charles Wheeler
• Mary Steenburgen as Belinda Conine
• Antonio Banderas as Miguel Alvarez
• Joanne Woodward as Sarah Beckett
• Robert W. Castle as Bud Beckett
• Ann Dowd as Jill Beckett
• Adam LeFevre as Jill's husband
• John Bedford Lloyd as Matt Beckett
• Dan Olmstead as Randy Beckett
• Lisa Summerour as Lisa Miller
• Charles Napier as Judge Lucas Garnett
• Roberta Maxwell as Judge Tate
• Roger Corman as Mr. Roger Laird
• David Drake as Bruno
• Harry Northup as Juror No. 6
• Bill Rowe as Dr. Armbruster
• Chandra Wilson as Chandra
• Daniel von Bargen as Jury Foreman
• Karen Finley as Dr. Gillman
• Robert Ridgely as Walter Kenton
• Bradley Whitford as Jamey Collins
• Ron Vawter as Bob Seidman
• Anna Deavere Smith as Anthea Burton
• Obba Babatundé as Jerome Green
• Charles Glenn as Kenneth Killcoyne
• Tracey Walter as the Librarian
• Andre B. Blake as Young Man in Pharmacy (as André B. Blake)
• Daniel Chapman as Clinic Storyteller
• Peter Jacobs as Peter / Mona Lisa
• Paul Lazar as Dr. Klenstein
• Warren Miller as Mr. Finley
• Joey Perillo as Filko
• Lauren Roselli as Iris
• Lisa Talerico as Shelby
• Kathryn Witt as Melissa Benedict
• Julius Erving as himself
• Kenneth I. Starr as himself
• Mayor of Philadelphia Ed Rendell as himself
• The Flirtations as themselves
• Q Lazzarus as Party Singer
• Quentin Crisp as Party Guest (uncredited)

Real-life inspirations

The events in the film are similar to the events in the lives of attorneys Geoffrey Bowers and Clarence Cain. Bowers was an attorney who, in 1987, sued the law firm Baker McKenzie for wrongful dismissal in one of the first AIDS discrimination cases. Cain was an attorney for Hyatt Legal Services who was fired after his employer found out he had AIDS. He sued Hyatt in 1990, and won just before his death.

In 1994, shortly after the film's release, Scott Burr, a former attorney with the Philadelphia firm of Kohn, Nast and Graf, sued his previous employer for illegally terminating him upon finding out that he was HIV positive. Like the defendants in the film, the firm claimed that it fired him for incompetence without knowing about his health. The parties settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount after three weeks of trial. Burr continued to practice law prior to his death in 2020.

Controversy

Bowers's family sued the writers and producers of the film. A year after Bowers's death in 1987, a producer, Scott Rudin, had interviewed the Bowers family and their lawyers, and, according to the family, promised compensation for the use of Bowers's story as a basis for a film. Family members asserted that 54 scenes in the movie were so similar to events in Bowers's life that some of them could only have come from their interviews. However, the defense said that Rudin had abandoned the project after hiring a writer and did not share any information the family had provided. The lawsuit was settled after five days of testimony. Although terms of the agreement were not released, the defendants did admit that "the film 'was inspired in part'" by Bowers' story.

Production

In October 1987, 20th Century Fox pre-emptively acquired the rights to Alice Hoffman's then-upcoming novel At Risk, with Hoffman attached to adapt the novel herself. The project eventually moved to Orion Pictures, with Scott Rudin attached as a producer. Jonathan Demme was hired to direct the adaptation, prompting Rudin to exit the project, supposedly due to Demme's refusal to work with him. In 1988, Demme brought the project to screenwriter Ron Nyswaner, whom he had previously worked with on Swing Shift. Nyswaner was partially inspired to board the project by his nephew Kevin's recent diagnosis of HIV/AIDS; Kevin Nyswaner would subsequently succumb to complications of the virus on June 14, 1992 aged 21. While originally reported to be sharing a screenwriting credit with Hoffman, Nyswaner's original screenplay was ultimately based on newspaper clippings and articles on the subject of AIDS and deviated significantly from Hoffman's novel, which is centered on a young girl named Amanda Farrell who contracts the virus through an unscreened blood transfusion. Financial troubles forced Orion to sell the project, now retitled Probable Cause, to TriStar Pictures in June 1992. The project was once again renamed to People Like Us before finally settling on the title Philadelphia instead.

Casting

Andy Garcia was the first actor to be offered the role of Andrew Beckett, but was forced to leave the project due to scheduling conflicts; he would briefly return to the project but ultimately did not play the character. Daniel Day-Lewis was approached to replace Garcia, but turned the role down as he was already committed to In the Name of the Father. Matthew Modine and William Baldwin also expressed interest in taking over the role of Beckett before it ultimately went to Tom Hanks. Bill Murray, William Hurt, Nick Nolte, and Tim Robbins were among the actors considered for the character Joe Miller before the role went to Denzel Washington. To prepare for his role, Hanks read the works of author Paul Monette and worked with two personal trainers to shed 35 pounds of weight to depict the deterioration of Beckett's health as the film progresses.

John Leguizamo was offered the role of Miguel Álvarez but turned it down to play Luigi in the film Super Mario Bros.

In a June 2022 interview with The New York Times, Tom Hanks said that the film would not be made with a straight actor in a gay role in 2022, stating audiences would not "accept the inauthenticity of a straight guy playing a gay guy". Hanks added that this was "rightly so", stating "One of the reasons people weren't afraid of that movie is that I was playing a gay man".

TriStar Pictures initially refused to insure actor Ron Vawter, who was openly HIV-positive at the time, insisting Jonathan Demme recast him. Demme refused, even changing the shooting schedule to accommodate Vawter after he was hospitalized for a month. Vawter died of complications from AIDS less than five months after the film's premiere. The American Film Institute notes that of some 53 AIDS-positive actors who appeared in the film, 43 (including Vawter) died within a year of its release.

Filming

Principal photography commenced on October 21, 1992. The film was shot in-sequence (chronological order), as Hanks had to gradually lose weight over the course of the film, and to help the actor follow a clear emotional trajectory. Filming took place on-location in Philadelphia, with the courtroom scenes shot at City Hall. Other locations included the University of Pennsylvania library, Mount Sinai Hospital, Spectrum arena and Rittenhouse Square.

Release

Theatrical release

Philadelphia premiered in Los Angeles on December 14, 1993 and opened in limited release in four theaters on December 22, before expanding into wide release on January 14, 1994. The Los Angeles premiere was a benefit for AIDS Project Los Angeles, which netted $250,000 APLA Chair Steve Tisch told the Los Angeles Times.

The film was the first Hollywood big-budget, big-star film to tackle the issue of AIDS in the United States (following the television film And the Band Played On) and signaled a shift in Hollywood films toward more realistic depictions of people in the LGBT community. According to a Tom Hanks interview for the 1995 documentary The Celluloid Closet, he was cast in the role due to his non-intimidating screen persona in order to allow for audiences to sympathize with a gay, HIV-positive character. However, scenes showing more affection between him and Banderas were cut, including one with him and Banderas in bed together. The DVD edition, produced by Automat Picture, includes this scene; according to Jonathan Demme, the scene was cut for pacing.

Home media

Philadelphia was released on VHS on June 29, 1994 and on DVD on September 10, 1997; it was later released as a limited edition Blu-ray through Twilight Time on May 14, 2013. In conjunction with the film's 25th anniversary, the film was released on 4K Blu-Ray on November 27, 2018.

The screenplay was also republished in a novelization by writer Christopher Davis in 1994.

Reception

Box office

Philadelphia was originally released on December 22, 1993, in a limited opening of only four theaters, and had a weekend gross of $143,433 with an average of $35,858 per theater. The film expanded its release on January 14, 1994, to 1,245 theaters and went to number one at the US box office, grossing $13.8 million over the 4-day Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, averaging $11,098 per theater. The film stayed at number 1 the following weekend, earning another $8.8 million.

In its 14th weekend, the weekend after the Oscars, the film expanded to 888 theaters, and saw its gross increase by 70%, making $1.9 million and jumping from number 15 the previous weekend (when it made $1.1 million from 673 theaters), to return to the top ten ranking at number 8 that weekend.

Philadelphia eventually grossed $77.4 million in North America and $129.2 million overseas for a total of $206.7 million worldwide against a budget of $26million, making it a significant box office success, and becoming the 12th highest-grossing film in the U.S. of 1993.

Critical response

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Philadelphia holds an approval rating of 83% based on 63 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "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." Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

In a contemporary review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half out of four stars and said that it is "quite a good film, on its own terms. And for moviegoers with an antipathy to AIDS but an enthusiasm for stars like Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, it may help to broaden understanding of the disease. It's a ground-breaker like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), the first major film about an interracial romance; it uses the chemistry of popular stars in a reliable genre to sidestep what looks like controversy."

Christopher Matthews from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote "Jonathan Demme's long-awaited Philadelphia is so expertly acted, well-meaning and gutsy that you find yourself constantly pulling for it to be the definitive AIDS movie." James Berardinelli from ReelViews wrote "The story is timely and powerful, and the performances of Hanks and Washington assure that the characters will not immediately vanish into obscurity." Rita Kempley from The Washington Post wrote "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."

Year-end lists

• 8th – Dan Craft, The Pantagraph
• 8th – Joan Vadeboncoeur, Syracuse Herald American
• Honorable Mention – Dennis King, Tulsa World
• Honorable Mention – Bob Carlton, The Birmingham News

Accolades

[[American Film Institute]]

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains
  • Andrew Beckett – #49 (Heroes)
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies – #20

Soundtrack

• Glen Brunman
• Gary Goetzman
• Jonathan Demme

A soundtrack album was released in January 1994, by Epic Soundtrax containing the main music featured in the film.

Track listing

The album was re-released in 2008 in France only as a CD/DVD combo pack with the film itself, containing the same track listing (catalogue number 88697 322052 under both Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Sony Classical labels). The director originally contacted Neil Young to record a rock anthem to open the film, but after viewing a cut of it, Young was inspired to write a slow and quiet ballad instead. Demme decided Young's song would be more appropriate for the ending of the film, so he approached Bruce Springsteen to write an anthem. Springsteen viewed the opening montage, which at the time featured Neil Young's "Southern Man" as the temp track, but like Young he was inspired to create something quieter, in this case a beat-driven recording that became "Streets of Philadelphia." However, Springsteen's first contribution, "Tunnel of Love," was rejected by Demme. Even though Springsteen knew it was not what Demme originally wanted, he sent it to him anyway. When Demme and his wife were moved by the recording, she advised him that it was likely the direction he should be going and he agreed.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

References

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