Grundmann and Sacks have much less good to say about the film. They say some of the story is not genuine, like the relationship between Andrew and Miguel. Among many other criticisms, they also believe the movie is melodramatic and superficial, and does not go far enough to show the real suffering of a man with AIDS.  By J. Wheeling

Rothman talks about how the movie is an unprecedented one because it uses over fifty actors who had AIDS during the filming, over 80 percent of which have since died. Even Ron Vawter, a gay actor who played a law firm member on the board against Beckett was positive for the disease. Contains some moving quotes from the later deceased actors.  By  J. Wheeling

Maslin describes the film as “forceful, impassioned and moving” filled with excellent acting, but it is predictable and is a conservative attempt at a movie based on AIDS. It was the first Hollywood movie talking about the disease and tries to educate the general public.  By J. Wheeling

In Philadelphia many of the extras had AIDS or were HIV-positive and were recruited from Action AIDS Philadelphia.  Since the film’s release, 43 out of these 53 extras have died.  Jonathan Demme purposely set out to use AIDS patients in the film, which caused some apprehension with other members of the crew.  By L. Pardue