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Tom Hanks is a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination next month as an AIDS-stricken lawyer in "Philadelphia." And though the film has moments that are too showy — grandstanding scenes that hammer home the main messages too heavily — it's a compelling yarn that deserves to find an audience.

The one drawback to Hanks' inherently sympathetic character and his terrific, wonderfully drawn performance in the role, however, is that it will likely overshadow an equally excellent but decidedly more subtle turn by Denzel Washington, playing a homophobic attorney whose narrow-mindedness is gradually altered over the course of the film.

If Hanks deserves an Oscar nomination, Washington certainly does. But if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is true to form, look for Hanks' name to highlight the list of best actor nominees, while Washington's will likely be left off.

"Philadelphia" opens with Hanks and Washington as opposing counsel in a civil case, which......

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