Philadelphia

Written by: Ron Nyswanner Starring: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards, Mary Steenburgen

Unfortunately, not a very good picture; it wears its nobility and purity of intent like a hairshirt. Overlong, overly sentimental, and regrettably uninvolving from a narrative standpoint. Only the courtroom drama makes us pay any attention. The central point is cloudy, vague. Sure, the bad guys are bad and the good guys are noble, but we never really get to the heart of the matter, the real truth about what happened to Tom’s character at his law firm. It may be that the filmmakers don't really care (it certainly seems that way) but that doesn't give us a lot of reason to care either.

What you're left with is grandstanding: "Never mind about that annoying plot stuff, these characters are so noble and deserving of sympathy that that's the only thing that matters." The result? A preachy lecture that is never very convincing. Demme loses his usually taut focus and is washed away by the political correctness of the whole endeavor (witness that terminally drawn-out closing sequence). See? Gay people are people too! They were once cute little kids too! Gee, thanks John (and Ron too, for that matter). But if that's all you're after, then either you're insulting your audience or you should be spending your time making public service announcements. As far as the acting goes, Washington, as always, commands the screen when he is on it. Hanks is another story. He gives a "brave" performance, and does have a few good moments, but I could never get past the experience of Tom Hanks playing a guy with AIDS. Nevertheless, it's hard to criticize such a Gandhi-esque model, and in fact Hanks won the Golden Globe. Hopefully he won't win the Oscar. Yes, AIDS is a terrible problem, and those afflicted with it deserve our sympathy, and gay people should be treated the same as other people, but if "Philadelphia" is all those involved can come up with to make those points, they have a long way to go. (1/14/94)