Review of Philadelphia (1993) by Sean L — 20 Aug 2014

A heart-tugger from the darkest days of the AIDS epidemic and public disdain for the gay community. It holds our hand a bit more than is really necessary, and tirelessly beats us over the head with its point, but it feels like that sort of treatment was somewhat necessary for such a controversial issue in the early '90s.

Tom Hanks is revelatory in the lead role, balancing his usual bubbling vat of character with a potent, hard-edged determination to fight for the justice he's due. Not to harp on the morality of the times too much, but I don't think it can be understated how important this casting was, both for the film and its lead actor.

The level of good-natured, approachable personality that Hanks wears on his chest is crucial to humanizing the character, making him more than just the sick, faceless member of an alien culture. That we'd laughed with him so many times already makes it all the more powerful to see him near death, struggling to remain upright in bed as the disease ravages his body.

Denzel Washington fails to keep pace as his moderately scummy, though well-spoken lawyer, an awkward personification of the ugly, ignorant target audience, but he nails a few convincing courtroom speeches and has his come-to-Jesus moment, which is all we really need from the role.

It can get clunky at times, but Philadelphia's message remains potent and profound, even amidst the vastly-shifted modern landscape.