Philadelphia

Philadelphia (1993)

8 corrected entries

(4 votes)

Corrected entry: Andrew Beckett was fired because he allegedly almost caused his firm to miss a filing deadline. We are shown the clock at 3:45 p.m., supposedly "75 minutes before the deadline," and are told how the complaint was "found" just in the nick of time and filed (i.e., just before 5:00 p.m.). The US District Court (the Federal Court) in Philadelphia (and anywhere else) is always open for business, and has an "after hours box" where attorneys can file pleadings anytime of the day or night. The pleadings are then time-stamped and considered "filed" on that date, as long as the pleading was filed before midnight.

Correction: The law firms point was to show that Andrew was incompetant in the performance of his job. Andrew had supposedly "lost" an important file and they had to unnecessarily scramble around to find it. The so called "deadline" was probably used for dramatic effect in the courtroom to further stress the importance of the file that Andrew "lost".

Damian Torres

Corrected entry: When Andy is cross-examined by Ms. Conine and she asks him if he has any lesions in his face he says that he has one by his left ear. The scene doesn't give us many chances to check this, but the few times we see the ear there isn't any lesion, not even a small one. (01:32:45)

NancyFelix

Correction: Very possible that he saw a lesion there a few days prior, and it simply went away without him noticing. It's not in the most noticeable place on his face. When he is confronted w/ the mirror, you can tell that he thought a lesion was there, but notices it has gone away, and he is visibly upset by this as this helped the defense's case. He can't see it, thus we can't see it, because it's no longer there.

Corrected entry: When Joe buys diapers for his baby girl he takes out a package of Pampers. Then he takes out another one of the same kind and scrutinizes the two as if he were comparing something, and finally puts one back into the shelf. As in nappy purchases expiry dates don't play a role, and as his daughter is already several months old, allowing Joe, who is shown as someone who takes his responsibilities as a father very seriously, sufficient time to become familiar with all aspects of keeping baby bottoms clean, this episode doesn't make any sense. (00:57:10)

NancyFelix

Correction: Joe has an awful lot on his mind! Surely he could just be wanting to spend a little time by himself in a shop! Character problem, not a mistake.

jackie_pq

Corrected entry: When Andy is called to Wheeler's office to be informed that he is given the Highline case, his front hair is hanging down, concealing a lesion on the side of his forehead. When Walter Kenton appoaches him and asks him what this thing on his forehead is, his hair is standing up and the lesion is visible. In the next shot, when he thanks Wheeler for his confidence, the hair is down again as before, and the lesion is not visible. (00:11:10)

NancyFelix

Correction: His hair was hanging down covering his forehead but then he started to move around. Like the rest of him, the hair also moved (as it always does- hair is not static). His hair goes back down over his lesion after he smooths it down (we see him do this).

Corrected entry: Andrew Beckett was fired because he allegedly almost caused his firm to miss a filing deadline. We are shown the clock at 3:45 p.m., supposedly "75 minutes before the deadline," and are told how the complaint was "found" just in the nick of time and filed (i.e., just before 5:00 p.m.). The US District Court (the Federal Court) in Philadelphia (and anywhere else) is always open for business, and has an "after hours box" where attorneys can file pleadings anytime of the day or night. The pleadings are then time-stamped and considered "filed" on that date, as long as the pleading was filed before midnight. This was obviously done for dramatic effect.

Correction: He said the "statute of limitations" on filing for that case runs out at 5 p.m. If the paperwork did not make it there before 5 p.m., they could not have filed the complaint and it would have been thrown out of court.

Corrected entry: When Joe buys diapers in the supermarket and a gay law student makes a pass at him, he gets angry and storms to the door, bypassing the cash counter. It's a bit far fetched that he was so upset that he forgot to pay. (00:58:35)

NancyFelix

Correction: It's not a bit far fetched. Some men are so offended when a man makes a pass at them that they need to get out of that situation ASAP.

Jane Doe

Corrected entry: At several points during the plaintiff's case, Miller seems to be questioning his own witnesses after the defense counsel, which of course doesn't happen.

David Mercier

Correction: Yes it does. After defense counsel questions plaintiff's witness, plaintiff can ask questions on re-direct.

Corrected entry: There are three factoral errors regarding labor trials that seem to occur only in Hollywood: 1) That labor trials are jury trials, 2) that, if so, the jury awards all damages and decides on the amounts, and 3) that throughout a whole labor trial all senior partners of the sued firm have to be present. The reality is there are many exceptions in real life than what is shown, such as labor cases do not always go to trial. (00:45:05)

NancyFelix

Correction: None of these are errors. In the U.S. (1) both civil and criminal litigants can request jury trials regardless of subject matter, it is a constitutional right; (2) the jury, as the finder of fact, does indeed render findings on the amount of damages to be awarded in a civil trial; and (3) the senior partners of the firm, though certainly not required to be at the trial, would be welcome to attend and (depending on the judge) likely be permitted to sit at the defense table with their counsel (after all, most law firms are partnerships - thus each partner is technically a named defendant).

Continuity mistake: In the final scene with Andrew Beckett dying in hospital, he is wearing an oxygen mask. The LHS green strap is outside the mask when the mask is removed. When put back by Joe Miller it is on the inside of the mask - this would also impact on the flow of oxygen to the patient. The next time we see Beckett the green strap appears on the outside, but no one was near to move it. What is also strange is that Miller doesn't correct the position of the strap as it looks really odd. (01:47:00)

More mistakes in Philadelphia

Judge Garrett: In this courtroom, Mr.Miller, justice is blind to matters of race, creed, color, religion, and sexual orientation.
Joe Miller: With all due respect, your honor, we don't live in this courtroom, do we?

More quotes from Philadelphia
More trivia for Philadelphia

Question: Can someone please explain the scene in the hallway at the basketball game? It seems to suggest that Andrew actually wasn't fired because of his sexuality or AIDS. But I thought the point of the movie is that he was.

MikeH

Answer: My take was that one of his firm's issues was that they didn't consider him a "victim" of the disease because, unlike his co-worker who contracted the AIDS virus from a blood transfusion, he was infected due to what they considered were his reckless and immoral life-style choices.

raywest

More questions & answers from Philadelphia

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