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65
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43
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Philadelphia
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 21 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 3 votes
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: Ron Nyswaner
Directed by: Jonathan Demme
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 23, 1993
DVD: November 2, 2004
Running Time: 125 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for some graphic language and thematic material
Starring Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Antonio Banderas, Joanne Woodward, Jason Robards, Bradley Whitford, Mary Steenburgen, and Chandra Wilson
Hailed as a landmark film that dazzles with deep emotion and exceptional acting, Philidelphia is the story of two competing lawyers who join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. And as their unlikely friendship develops, their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries. (Sony Pictures)
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Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Christopher Matthews
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. [14 Jan 1994, p.13]
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
And yet Philadelphia 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.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
The story is timely and powerful, and the performances of Hanks and Washington assure that the characters will not immediately vanish into obscurity.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
This Hollywood movie about a gay man afflicted with AIDS is evocative, understated and ultimately deeply affecting. Hard-earned tears of truth. [22 Dec 1993, p.C1]
Variety Todd McCarthy
On a scene-by-scene basis, in terms of performance and the grave issues under consideration, the film is quite absorbing.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)
Philadelphia fails to create complex characters or finely nuanced drama, but it succeeds in its real goal; the education of an audience whose thinking about AIDS and gay life has been shaped by notions of perversion and divine retribution.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
Phildelphia, with its velvety textures and rhythms and heads-up soundtrack, does a good job of at least putting the topic on the mainstream table. And it's dramatically potent as well as historically important. [14 Jan 1994, p.73]
Chicago Tribune Chrissie Bielinski
Even with its imperfections, Philadelphia is still an entertaining and moving film. Although it preaches, it also forces us to look at ourselves. [21 Jan 1994, p.N]
San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack
Forgiving its moments of melodrama, Philadelphia makes emotional power punches out of every smile, embrace and tear in its story of a regular guy contracting AIDS and getting booted out of the law firm that once lifted him to glory. [14 Jan 1994, p.C1]
The New York Times Janet Maslin
In the end, thanks to such effects and to the simple grace of Mr. Hanks's performance, this film does accomplish what it means to. Philadelphia rises above its flaws to convey the full urgency of its difficult subject, and to bring that subject home.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Rita Kempley
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.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker Anthony Lane
The result is an unorthodox blend of courtroom drama and old-style weepie, and somehow it comes off. [23 Dec 1993]
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
But Philadelphia turns out to be a scattershot liberal message movie, one that ties itself in knots trying to render its subject matter acceptable to a mass audience.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Staff (Not Credited)
Demme's filmmaking makes up in sincerity what it lacks in originality, and he gets a remarkable amount of emotional mileage from simple close-ups of expressive faces. [24 Dec 1993]
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Still, Philadelphia is comprised of enough “little moments” that provide all the richness and grace we need to get us past the film's more inelegant moments. Primary here are the transcendent lead performances by Hanks and Washington, both of whom are, at all times, exciting to watch.
Read Full Review >Empire Angie Errigo
For all its weaker aspects, it is to be recommended as a denunciation of intolerence made with understanding, compassion, and some humour.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Genuinely moving at times, Philadelphia is trying, perhaps too hard, to break America's heart. [22 Dec 1993, p.1]
Wall Street Journal Julie Salamon
They have also stripped out almost all complexity, reducing the drama to a familiar match between good and evil. You've heard all the speeches before; only the nouns have been changed. [23 Dec 1993, p.A9]
USA Today Mike Clark
Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia labors ambitiously on two socially conscious fronts - relating the story of an AIDS-afflicted lawyer while exploring a much broader issue. Unlike almost any other Demme movie - it's a film where you feel the gears struggling to mesh. [22 Dec 1993, p.1D]
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Even a good performance by Tom Hanks and noble intentions can't save this mainstream look at AIDS from the worst effects of nervous committeethink.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Howe
Directed by Jonathan Demme, and starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, this AIDS courtroom drama is so pumped full of nitrous oxide, you could get your teeth drilled on it.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.3 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
