Philadelphia

In Philadelphia, the camera zoomed in for several close-ups of Tom Hanks in which he made subtle gestures or faces that ended up being crucial to the movie. In the end, I found each of these to symbolize the 5 stages of grief that a patient (or people close to that patient) go through when they find out that they are going to die.

1. Anger: After being turned down by the tenth lawyer, there is a close-up of Andrew Beckett, standing in the doorway looking angry and hopeless.

2. Denial: When Beckett and Miguel are talking about death for the first time, Miguel says that maybe Andrew should start planning his own memorial. Tom Hanks looks extremely surprised, then shakes his head and says the word "NO." It is then that they go to a costume party.

3. Bargaining: When talking about his will with Miller, Beckett makes it clear that he wants a lot of his money to go to charity. This is like a last attempt to gain some good karma.

4. Depression: Out of nowhere, Andrew gets extremely emotional when listening to La Mamma Morta by Maria Callas. He cries and feels the weight of his situation. He is clearly not yet ready to die.

5. Acceptance: While lying in his hospital bed, Beckett blatantly tells Miguel, "I'm ready." This is the definition of the acceptance that every person hopes to achieve right before they die.

One thing in the movie that surprised me was that Beckett's family was picture-perfect throughout. They were extremely supportive of his partnership with Miguel as well as his plight with AIDS. In reality, many AIDS patients were disowned because of their homosexuality. I am still curious as to why the creators of the film made his family life flawless.