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Philadelphia

Status: Finished first viewing on 01/31/2022

Rating: 5/5

Spoilers

  • Andy (Tom Hanks) is suing his former law firm for wrongful termination, accusing them of firing him on the basis of him having AIDs or perhaps being gay.
  • Joe (Denzel Washington) is Andy’s lawyer.
    • Joe is a hero of the story, but also, by contemporary standards is extremely homophobic and ignorant about AIDS.
    • The director (Demme) intended the movie for the broad (largely anti-gay) public.
    • Joe gets exposure to the gay world, and warms to it a bit.
    • At the very least, he develops a strong affinity and respect for Andy, a gay man with AIDs.
    • Denzel Washington does a really nice job.
  • Tom Hanks, Mary Steenburgen, and Antonio Banderas also give strong performances.
  • The movie is a beautiful portrait of the public attitude towards LGBT people 35 years ago.
    • This also illustrates the amazing progress that has occurred in my lifetime.
    • To me, how this progress happened is a great mystery to me.
  • For me, the most touching moments are those between Andy and his wonderful family.
Date
February 1, 2022
Links to this post
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