Review of Philadelphia (1993) by Cj S — 02 May 2009

Regardless of where you stand in regards to homosexuality, this is a very powerful film, where your prejudices need to be put in check to recognize that a homosexual is still a person who deserves justice and, yes, compassion.

There's something rather extraordinary about the camera angles of this film, too. Characters often speak directly into the screen, which has the effect of putting viewers in the place of those receiving the message without really taking the viewer out of the movie.

It's surprisingly non-intrusive and is definitely an effective way to convey the message. Also amazing is the acting itself. Tom Hanks manages to garner sympathy without ever succumbing to being a martyr or becoming a pathetic caricature.

Denzel manages to be the catalyst for those who are on the fence on the issue of homosexuality, a man who holds prejudices, but recognizes injustice and comes to sympathize with Andrew Beckett, a person who made mistakes but certainly didn't deserve to lose his job - a person who certainly didn't have to die for those mistakes.

Philadelphia definitely deserves to be considered among the best films of the 90's.