Hollywood’s first attempt at a big-budget, big-star treatment on the AIDS crisis is riveting and emotionally powerful. It is a tightly focused family and court-room drama about one man’s politicisation in the face of homophobia and AIDS discrimination. Tom Hanks won the Oscar for his performance as Andrew Beckett, a hot-shot corporate lawyer for a prestigious and powerful Philadelphia law firm. He is fired because he is a gay man with AIDS, and boldly decides to fight the firm in court.