THE QUEST FOR THE MOST ’90s FILM OF ALL TIME
Philadelphia

Philadelphia, released in 1993, is the first mainstream American film to realistically address HIV/AIDS and one of the first to empathetically depict a homosexual relationship. While it comes across as a textbook “issue” movie eighteen years later, its original honesty and heart cannot be underestimated. Jonathan Demme directed an Oscar-winning box office hit that tried to unite audiences around a relatable, strong character who transcended cliche. You would think that resume would make Philadelphia difficult to ridicule, and you would be wrong. 

STARS/PERFORMANCES-
- Actors Who Are Unquestionably Tied to the Decade- Tom Hanks [+10]*
Because he has reached national treasure status, it’s easy to forget that, before Philadelphia, Tom Hanks was basically his generation’s Ashton Kutcher. It’s a tribute to this performance that he was taken seriously from then on.

Before we get to meet his character, we are taken on an extensive THIS IS PHILADELPHIA opening credits sequence [+3]. William Penn statue! Independence Hall! Rows of boarded-up houses? And it’s soundtracked by Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia”, which plays three times over the course of the movie [+3]. They were really selling that song, y’all.


I like serious Tom Hanks and everything, but he should be contractually obligated to make this face at least once per film. Just do it on the stand once. It won’t hurt anything.

After ten minutes of tracking shots of Philly murals, we settle on Hanks’ Andy Beckett, a neat, sociable, dramatic (code words) attorney at a high-powered conservative firm. Andy is in a relationship with Antonio Banderas—nice catch, 1993 Tom Hanks—but he is closeted to his employers. That’s not Andy’s only secret though: He’s dying of AIDS. 

- Other Notable Actors/Characters- [+10]- Jason Robards, Mary Steenburgen, Charles Napier, Robert Ridgely, Bradley Whitford, Joanne Woodward
At first, the suspendered [+1] big-shots at the firm admire his moxie (code word) and promote him. Then, after noticing some lesions on his skin, they sabotage him. Andy is responsible for an important brief that, at a crucial moment, is nowhere to be found on their DOS network server [+2], and the big dogs blame him for the cock-up (code word). He gets fired the next day.

So Andy claims that he was fired because of his condition, and he enlists the help of Denzel to file a wrongful termination suit. At first, Denzel is all like, “Can you carry AIDS on your shirt or clothes?” and “I don’t like faggots.” (Actual things he says. [+5]) But as the movie goes on, he’s all like, “Damn, we’re both Phillies fans” and “I suppose gays can technically, in some ways, be considered people, much like myself, if you really think about it with an open mind.” Turns out he didn’t just help Andy: Andy helped him.

Meanwhile, Jason Robards—who has a glass of brandy in his hand for half of the movie—is taking no prisoners. He’ll stop at nothing to prove that his firm didn’t fire Andy because he was gay, even though, obviously, his firm fired Andy because he was gay. Robards gets to snarl things like, “Andy brought AIDS into our office! He brought AIDS into our men’s room!” And, in that same scene: “What deviant groups does he secretly belong to? Does he frequent those pathetic bars on Chestnut Street?” [+5].

In fact, the movie is almost instructive in its homophobia. I didn’t even know “pillow-biter” and “rump roaster” were silly synonyms for “homosexual”, but they apparently are [+2]. Denzel’s favorite bartender casually informs him, “Tooty-Fruitys make me sick,” while a Spin Doctors song plays in the background [+2]. Good to know, barkeep. Thanks for your input and music curation.

As the film goes on, Denzel has to stand up for his client and confront his own prejudices, but the film doesn’t always know how to show this. There’s a bizarre scene in which a gay man attempts to pick him up in a drugstore, assuming that, since Denzel’s representing a homosexual, he must be one too. Rather than taking the flirtation as a compliment, Denzel knocks over a bunch of merchandise and finger-wags, “This is what gives you…faggots a bad name” [+3]. I think the scene is there to show that he perhaps wasn’t ready for the attendant responsibilities of the case, as well as how it would affect his reputation, but  it just seems out-of-place at that point in the film. As did the five-minute sequence of Tom Hanks singing opera to himself, which weirded me out when I saw it in theaters. (You know, just the average ten-year-old watching a dude die slowly of AIDS.)


I know, right?

TECHNOLOGY/CULTURAL RELICS
- Could the Plot Reasonably Occur with Current Technology?
I’m going to say no [+10]. The most dated aspect of the film is its insistence that AIDS is a death sentence, which, thanks to modern medicine, is not necessarily true anymore. Andy seems to have known about his disease long before it actually manifested itself in the lesions, so he could have had several years of meaningful time with the right medication. His decline in health in this film is swift and intractable. 

As for the legal side, people still face wrongful termination because of their sexuality. Unfortunately, the movie isn’t dated in that respect. Because of that fact, the case wouldn’t have the groundbreaking status it does here. Maybe the discontinuation of land-lines and flip-phones is to blame [+2].

References/Artifacts
There’s also a misguided celebrity cameo [+2] in which Julius Erving shows up at Jason Robards’ suite for a 76ers game. (At the old Spectrum! [+1]) I think it’s supposed to illustrate that Robards is an influential, connected player in the town, but it really just shows us that Dr. J hangs with bigots. You do know those are the bad guys, right?

One of the key witnesses is a woman who contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion, and, maybe I’m hopelessly ignorant here but, I don’t think that happens in the first world anymore [+1]. The trial itself is a weird mixture of the melodramatic—since Andy’s health is flagging throughout and the defendants all seem cartoonish—and the anti-climactic—since there isn’t a sea change of attitude from Denzel, nor is there much time for Andy to enjoy his victory after the verdict.

What all of this adds up to is an almost abusive tear-jerkiness. It’s not enough for Andy to win his case. We then have to spend twenty minutes watching him wither away and die. I felt emotionally manipulated and wasn’t satisfied by the several funerals that end the film.

- Hacking/Computers
Hanks thumbs through physical law books at the library, and he types into generic IBM word processors [+3].

FASHION
Philadelphia really could have upped the ante here, but it’s content to feature bold-striped dress shirts, flannel, moustaches, Jheri curls, and double-breasted suits [+5].

’90s FILM CONVENTIONS

Jury’s POV Shots [+1]
Tilted Camera Angles to Show Character’s Weariness [+1]

Released by a Studio That No Longer Exists [+3]
These Gays Sure Have a Lot of Fancy Art [+3]
Black-and-White Film and Red [REC] Light to Show That We’re Watching a Home Movie [+3]

That Thing That Happens in All Jonathan Demme Films When He Has to Show Off That He Knows Cool Bands [+5]*


“So, wait. You’re going to do a Middle Eastern accent or whatever? You’re from some fictional country and don’t really speak English anyway? And you have to live at the airport? Like, they can’t deport you, but you don’t really have a country to go back to either? Then Catherine Zeta-Jones is this flight attendant that you fall in love with? I don’t know, man. Sounds fucking weird to me. I guess I’ll have to trust Spielberg.”

OTHER
Andy is so put-upon by the outside world that it’s a bit of a relief when he has the most understanding, saintly, liberal wet-dream of a family. Before going through with his suit, he clears it with them first, and his brother tells him: “You’re my kid brother. That’s. All. That. Matters” [+3].

FINAL TALLY
In a score that surprised even me, Philadelphia scored a healthy 89 points. I’ll watch The Bodyguard for next time.

*- Denzel did some great work in the ’90s—Malcolm X is one of the best movies of my lifetime—but I like the ’00s version of him better, when he basically became a self-parody. I hesitate to give him ’90s star points.
*- Seriously, if you look closely enough, you can always find some self-indulgent element in a Demme film that shows off his musical interests. Oh word, fam? You decided to give Robyn Hitchcock a cameo in Rachel Getting Married just to be distracting? Oh really? The band playing at the high school reunion in Something Wild is The Feelies? You’re so hip, Jonathan Demme.