| Director | Jonathan Demme |
|---|---|
| Genre | LGBT-related film, drama film, trial film |
| Runtime | 125 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $26 million |
| Box office | $206.7 million |
In the early 1990s, Andrew Beckett is a senior associate at Philadelphia's law firm Wyant, Wheeler, Hellerman, Tetlow, & Brown. He conceals his homosexuality and his status as an AIDS patient from others in the office. A partner in the firm, Walter Kenton, notices a lesion on Beckett's forehead. Although Beckett attributes the lesion to a racquetball injury, it indicates Kaposi's sarcoma, an AIDS-defining condition.
Beckett is given an important lawsuit to file before the statute of limitations runs out in 10 days. He works from home which gives him the opportunity to mask his lesions. On the tenth day, he is advised the lawsuit file is missing with no copies to be found. The paperwork is found and the suit filed on time, but Beckett is fired due to his incompetence. Beckett believes he was terminated because of his disease and his homosexuality, and asks personal injury attorney, Joe Miller, to represent him in a wrongful termination suit. Initially Miller declines, fearful of contracting the disease and uncomfortable representing a homosexual. Miller eventually agrees to take Beckett's case after witnessing discrimination against Beckett at a law library.
As the case goes to trial, the partners of the firm take the stand, each claiming that Beckett was incompetent and that he had deliberately tried to hide his condition. The defense distinguishes Beckett, who contracted the disease after having sex with strangers, with a former employee of one of the law partners, who contracted the disease after a blood transfusion. To contradict that Beckett's condition was unknown, Miller asks Beckett to unbutton his shirt while on the witness stand, revealing lesions that appeared to be the same as those on his face when employed. Throughout the trial, Miller's homophobia slowly disappears as he and Beckett bond from working together.
Beckett collapses and is hospitalized after Charles Wheeler, the partner he most admired, testifies against him. Another partner, Bob Seidman, confesses that he suspected Beckett had AIDS but never told anyone and refused to let him discuss it, which he deeply regrets. During Beckett's hospital stay, the jury deliberates. The foreman reasons the firm would have never given Beckett such an important lawsuit to work if they believed he was incompetent. They award him back pay, damages for pain and suffering, and punitive damages, totaling over $5 million. Miller visits the visibly frail Beckett in the hospital after the verdict and overcomes his fear enough to touch Beckett's face. After the family leaves the room, Beckett tells his partner Miguel Alvarez that he is "ready". A memorial is held at Beckett's home, where many mourners, including Miller and his family as well as Bob Seidman, view home movies of Beckett as a happy child.