An aspiring young lawyer is promoted within his successful firm but is promptly fired when it is discovered he is dying of AIDS. He then files charges against his former employers on the grounds of discrimination, and hires himself a rival counselor to help him win the case.
The first of two Academy Award wins for Hanks in a movie which is both moving and exciting to view on repeated occasions.
A well-deserved Oscar nod also went to singer Bruce Springsteen for the film's opening title song, Streets of Philadelphia.