Philadelphia

UPC: 043396078536

Studio: Columbia TriStar

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Profanity, Watch With Your Teen]

Summary: At the time of its release, Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia was the first big-budget Hollywood film to tackle the medical, political, and social issues of AIDS. Tom Hanks, in his first Academy Award-winning performance, plays Andrew Beckett, a talented lawyer at a stodgy Philadelphia law firm. The homosexual Andrew has contracted AIDS but fears informing his firm about the disease. The firm's senior partner, Charles Wheeler (Jason Robards), assigns Andrew a case involving their most important client. Andrew begins diligently working on the case, but soon the lesions associated with AIDS are visible on his face. Wheeler abruptly removes Andrew from the case and fires him from the firm. Andrew believes he has been fired because of his illness and plans to fight the firm in court. But because of the firm's reputation, no lawyer in Philadelphia will risk handling his case. In desperation, Andrew hires Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), a black lawyer who advertises on television, mainly handling personal injury cases. Miller dislikes homosexuals but agrees to take the case for the money and exposure. As Miller prepares for the courtroom battle against one of the law firm's key litigators, Belinda Conine (Mary Steenburgen), Miller begins to realize the discrimination practiced against Andrew is no different from the discrimination Miller himself has to battle against. The cast also includes Antonio Banderas as Andrew's partner, Joanne Woodward as Andrew's mother, and Stephanie Roth as Joe's wife. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or – null Best Screenplay – null Best Original Song – null Best Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Makeup – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Makeup – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Original Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Song – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Song – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Silver Bear for Best Actor – Berlin International Film Festival Best Picture – National Board of Review Best Original Song – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Screenplay – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: Filmmakers' audio commentary with director Jonathan Demme and screenwriter Ron Nyswaner
"People Like Us: Making Philadelphia" -- The cast and crew of Jonathan Demme's groundbreaking Philadelphia discuss the inspiration for and creation of the first Hollywood studio film about AIDS
The critically acclaimed documentary "One Foot on a Banana Peel, the Other Foot in the Grave"
Deleted scenes
Includes the music video for the Academy Award-winning original song, "Streets of Philadelphia," performed by Bruce Springsteen
Courthouse protest footage and interviews
Joe Miller's Macready & Shilts Legal Services TV spot
Original theatrical release featurette
Previews
Filmographies

Philadelphia

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 11/02/2004

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DD5.0 Dolby Digital 5.0, DS Dolby Surround (4.0)

Runtime: 125 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 2

Language(s) English,French,Spanish

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 -- Feature Film
1. Start [:21]
2. Beckett 1, Miller 0 [3:10]
3. In Emergency [11:48]
4. At Miller's Office [6:20]
5. "Am I Being Fired?" [3:09]
6. At the Library [8:13]
7. Summons [6:45]
8. 40th Wedding Anniversary [3:00]
9. Miller's Opening Remarks [3:40]
10. Conine's Opening Remarks [1:53]
11. Mr. Laird [1:41]
12. Miss Benedict [:13]
13. Miss Burton [5:00]
14. At the Pharmacy [1:29]
15. Miss O'Hara [2:38]
16. Mr. Collins [1:44]
17. In the Navy [2:32]
18. Home Treatment [3:33]
19. A Better Idea [2:02]
20. "La Mamma Morta" [3:35]
21. Andrew Takes the Stand [5:30]
22. Cross-Examination [8:09]
23. Five Minutes in Re-Direct [3:45]
24. Charles Wheeler [6:28]
25. Mr. Seidman [2:27]
26. The Verdict [4:50]
27. At the Hospital [2:12]
28. Remembering Andy [1:28]

Jason Clark

Widely noted as the first mainstream studio film to deal with AIDS, and featuring two of the world's biggest actors (Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington), Jonathan Demme's moving, well-intentioned drama, despite its naysayers, is a challenging and sometimes surprising work. Both leads (especially Hanks, in his first Oscar-winning role) deliver wonderfully nuanced portrayals, and Demme's signature touches (particularly the potent use of close-ups and music) are perfectly suited to this material. Denounced by many gay audiences as timid and tentative about its central romantic pairing (Hanks and Antonio Banderas) -- not to mention its eagerness to please mass American viewers -- the film nonetheless benefits from its decency and warm approach in dealing with its characters. For whatever missteps the film makes (framing a deeply tragic character study within the auspices of a courtroom drama, for one), its emotions are indelible and its risk-taking is appreciated. Bruce Springsteen won an Oscar for his haunting, elegant opening-titles theme, "Streets of Philadelphia," and in an odd case of art imitating life, Hanks' tearful, memorable Oscar acceptance speech (where he thanked his gay acting teacher from years back) became the source material for the 1997 comedy In & Out, starring Kevin Kline. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Obba Babatunde  Actor 
Kenneth Utt  Actor 
Howard Feuer  Actor 
James B. Howard  Actor 
Harry Northrup  Actor 
Lewis Walker  Actor 
Donna Hamilton  Actor 
Lucas Platt  Actor 
Jordan Cael  Actor 
Buzz Kilman  Actor 
Randy Aaron Fink  Actor 
Robert Ridgely  Actor 
Adam Le Fevre  Actor 
Jane Moore  Actor 
Stephanie Roth  Actor 
Lawrence T. Wrentz  Actor 
Dodie Demme  Actor 
Tony Fitzpatrick  Actor 
Gary Goetzman  Actor 
Ira Flitter  Actor 
Lisa Summerour  Actor 
Gene Borkan  Actor 
Jim Roche  Actor 
Steve Vignari  Actor 
Paul Moore  Actor 
Ron Bozman  Executive Producer 
Jonathan Demme  Director 
Jonathan Demme  Producer 
Gary Goetzman  Executive Producer 
Ron Nyswaner  Screenwriter 
Edward Saxon  Producer 
Howard Shore  Composer (Music Score) 
Bruce Springsteen  Composer (Music Score) 
Kenneth Utt  Executive Producer 
Neil Young  Composer (Music Score) 
Tom Hanks  Actor 
Denzel Washington  Actor 
Jason Robards, Jr.  Actor 
Mary Steenburgen  Actor 
Antonio Banderas  Actor 
Ron Vawter  Actor 
Charles Napier  Actor 
Joanne Woodward  Actor 
Andre B. Blake  Actor 
Robert W. Castle  Actor 
Daniel Chapman  Actor 
Roger Corman  Actor 
Ann Dowd  Actor 
David Drake  Actor 
Charles Glenn  Actor 
Paul Lazar  Actor 
John Bedford Lloyd  Actor 
Roberta Maxwell  Actor 
Warren Miller  Actor 
Joey Perillo  Actor 
Lauren Roselli  Actor 
Anna Deavere Smith  Actor 
Daniel Von Bargen  Actor 
Tracey Walter  Actor 
Bradley Whitford  Actor 
Kathryn Witt  Actor 
Julius "Dr. J" Erving  Actor 

Country: USA