Andrew Beckett is a star attorney for the largest law firm in Philadelphia. He is lavished with praise and high-profile cases until one day, an executive partner notices a lesion on his head. Though Beckett explains the lesion as a racquetball injury, the partner correctly attributes it to AIDS (specifically Kaposi’s Sarcoma, “an AIDS-defining condition”). Soon thereafter, the office is in a panic with the suggestion that Beckett misplaced an important legal filing before a crucial deadline. Though the paperwork is finally discovered, with no damage to their case, Beckett is called in and terminated for the supposed indiscretion. Understanding that his AIDS-status and homosexuality were the real reasons for his separation, Beckett aims to file a wrongful termination lawsuit. Unable to find representation, he visits personal injury attorney Joe Miller (whom he had faced once before). With his own prejudice and misinformation, Miller initially rejects Beckett as a client. However, he is convinced to take the case when he sees Beckett deal with discrimination at a library—not unlike discrimination that Miller, a black man, had experienced before. Together, the two men go trial against Philadelphia’s premier legal force, sifting through and dismissing misconceptions, biases, and prejudice against people with AIDS and homosexuals.
I knew this movie was a courtroom drama about AIDS and I knew that Tom Hanks won an academy award for his performance. Naturally, it’s tragically brutal to watch America’s sweetheart Tom Hanks be stoic and suffer. Beckett is intelligent, brave, and sweet, and with Hanks behind the wheel, there was no question my heart would be shattered over this film. But for me, the real strength was an unexpected performance from Denzel Washington. I say “unexpected” because I had no idea he was in this film and was shocked to learn that, not only was he, I’d argue he’s the main character. Hank’s Beckett is the subject of the film, but Washington’s Miller is the proxy for the 1993 American audience and the journey we’re meant to follow—a man who is deeply transformed by the case and his relationship with Beckett. There’s this little detail (that we’re meant to pick up on and I’m super proud that I did…LOL) of Miller picking out a cheap champaign at the beginning of the film and then bringing a bottle of Dom Perignon to a post-trial celebration. This would be the bubbliest of metaphors for his transformation if it weren’t that he was celebrating a birth at the beginning of the film and reckoning with a death at the end. The film is full of these counter-balanced elements. Anyway, throw in Jonathan Demme’s calculated direction, Tak Jukimoto’s creative camera angles, and Howard Shore’s heartfelt, ‘90s score, and you have one heck of a movie.