Continuity mistake: When Joe and his wife are about to have dinner, he takes the salad bowls into the dining room and sets them on the corner of the table. He returns to the kitchen for a second and then when he enters the dining room again the bowls are on their plates. (00:30:20)
Philadelphia (1993)
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)
Revealing mistake: When Andy comes to Joe's office to ask for representation his head is shaven. The transitition of artificial scalp to Andy's neck is pretty badly done, and it looks almost disgusing when he is standing in front of Joe's office after he has been declined. (00:28:30)
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.
Trivia: The film starred Tom Hanks and Jason Robards, the last two actors to win consecutive Oscars.
Trivia: Daniel Day-Lewis was the first considered to play this role that would give Tom Hanks an Oscar, but he refused it.
Dr. Armbruster: The HIV virus can only be transmitted through the exchange of bodily fluids, namely blood, semen, and vaginal secretions.
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?
Joe Miller: Now, explain it to me like I'm a four-year-old.
Question: At the end of the film just before Tom hanks dies, he lowers his oxygen mask and says to partner Banderas "I'm ready". Ready for what exactly? Ready to die? Ready for a bit of final smooching? Or ready (and this is just my assumption) for Banderas to pull the plug?
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?
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.
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.
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Chosen answer: Ready to die.