Other mistake: In the library Joe quotes from a law book: "...the prejudice surrounding AIDS exacts a social death which precedes the physical one...". The subtitles read: "...which proceeds the physical one...", which is grammar- and otherwise wrong. (00:37:50)
Philadelphia (1993)
1 other mistake - chronological order
Directed by: Jonathan Demme
Starring: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Antonio Banderas, Roberta Maxwell, Buzz Kilman
Genres: Drama
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)
Joe Miller: Now, explain it to me like I'm a four-year-old.
Trivia: The film was based on an actual lawsuit against Hyatt Legal Services, a storefront chain in the Midwest with a less-than-sterling reputation in the legal profession.
Question: Philadelphia City Hall is a massive building with thick walls. Right after their arguments in the Kendall case Hanks and Washington are seen in the elevator using their cell phones. Cell phones didn't get great reception in 1993 anyway, so would they have worked at all in an elevator inside a massive building?
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Chosen answer: Probably not. But occasionally phones have worked in places they shouldn't. a signal gets through, somehow. In the movies, anything is possible as long as it moves the plot along.