The Terminal (2004)

The Terminal

The movie clams to be a critically acclaimed comedy. Tom Hanks portrays a character how arrives in New York to find his homeland in war and now is unable to return home and unable to enter New York since the takeover of the government of his homeland is now not recognized by the US.

The movie had a few good parts and Hanks acting was pretty good. However it did not end the way I thought it would. There is not a lot that really holds your attention to the storyline. December 25, 2008

Waiting can be exciting... It can be also entertaining...

The film begins with a cool look (green and blue), because Spielberg doesn't think of Immigration as a warm place to be for the few minutes it takes to clear a passenger and get him on his way... So all the cool tones are evident until Viktor starts to settle into his new home... He is going to be stuck in New York's JFK airport for an unspecified amount of time... From this moment we see Viktor stuck, trapped, unable to enter United States and that's the fun of this film...

Tom Hanks is really so calm, so likable, so emotional, so funny and so real in what he does... Here, he's a very dignified person who is extremely trusting and always full of positive hope... You couldn't insult him if you try... It's very hard to hurt his feelings... He finds the bright side of every angle problem he faces and finds a way for him to live with the situation... He has the virtue of patience, and the testament to hard work, perseverance, and humility... He loves people, and he experiences the culture in an odd way...

Hanks plays a Krakozhian capable gentleman whose name is Viktor Navorski who finds himself without a passport and a visa once both are taken from him by the powers-that-be at the terminal, because his visa no longer counts, since his country is no longer in existence, and his passport is no longer valid...

Catherine Zeta-Jones brings vulnerability and insecurity to her unhappy character... She plays the gorgeous flight attendant Amalia Warren, a very sensible woman who's always looking for love, trying to find the person that will be her prince... She really wears her emotions on her sleeve and is lonely... She wants some strong relationship in her life... Viktor and Amelia have oceans of things in common and it ends up playing itself out and that's a nice thing to play...

The story leaves a lot for reflection, and in some ways, Viktor's stillness allows him to be a mirror for the people working in the airport to meditate on their own lives...

"The Terminal" is a charming film... It looks beautifully and elegantly, but realistically...

December 14, 2008

A Sweet and Charming Movie

Tom Hanks is just brilliant. I loved everything about this movie, especially how kindness and compassion transcends all nationalities. November 24, 2008

A Charming Comedy

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THE TERMINAL is the most charming film that director Steven Spielberg has made in years.

Inspired by an actual incident, the touching comedy stars Tom Hanks as Viktor Navorski, a non-English-speaking citizen from a small, imaginary Eastern European country who arrives at New York's JFK airport only to learn that a revolution has taken place in his nation. Thus, because of bureaucratic glitches, he cannot legally enter the United States, nor can he return home.

He is forced to remain inside the airport terminal until his situation can be rectified.

Inside the vast terminal, which, incidentally, is a fabulous set that, along with Hanks' brilliant nuanced performance, deserved to be (but was not) recognized come Oscar time, Viktor must learn to survive.

He finds a place to sleep in an unfinished part of the building, makes friends among the airport workers and even finds employment as a construction worker.

Viktor also finds romance in the person of Catherine Zeta-Jones, an airline stewardess who is involved in a dead-end affair with a married man.

Stanley Tucci plays the head of airport security. He's not an evil man, but the fact that Hanks is stuck in his terminal for month-after-month might prevent him from getting the promotion that he's been seeking for years. Therefore, he must find a way to rid himself of this thorn-in-his-side, using fair means or foul, even if it means that Hanks will wind up in prison.

Chi McBride and Diego Luna are also in the cast.

© Michael B. Druxman, author of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD October 1, 2008

Perseverance wins out

Imagine yourself in an airport of a country where you don't speak the language. While you were in the air, getting to that country, your country experienced a coup, and upon landing you find you are a person without a country. What now?

This is the premise of "The Terminal", a gentle little movie tailor-made to exercise Tom Hanks' considerable acting chops. Playing the role of Viktor Navorski, a simple man from Krakosia, a small country somewhere in Europe, he exhibits more style and believability than any other actor who might have worked this part. Viktor goes through the Customs line, expecting no trouble, and submits his passport. Unfortunately for him, while he was airborne, the military coup in his country rendered that passport useless. He is taken out of the line and delivered to the airport offices of Homeland Security, to which he submits without a fuss, with no understanding of where he is going or why.

The airport branch of Homeland Security is run by Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci, always worth watching), a man straining at the reins to advance himself in whatever way possible. The problem of Viktor is dropped in his lap. Viktor cannot be sent home, and he cannot be allowed to leave the International terminal. To the frustration of both Viktor and Frank, Viktor must remain in the terminal until his case is resolved.

Viktor is let loose in the protected international terminal with food vouchers and nothing else. He has no contacts, and still does not know why he is being detained from leaving until he chances to see an account of the coup in his country on one of the TV monitors. Understandably frantic, he tries to communicate with someone, anyone, to help him, but is summarily dismissed by everyone he encounters. He loses his food vouchers, is moved along by authorities, and spends a miserable first night in a secluded and empty waiting area, hoping the next day will bring a resolution to his troubles.

The next day, however, begins an odyssey of waiting; for an end to the coup, for his release from the terminal, for a way to get by. After several meals of saltine and ketchup sandwiches cadged from the condiment trays of various fast-food places, Viktor discovers that returning baggage trolleys to their corrals will net him redemption change, and his joy at sinking his teeth into his first real food - earned from his cart-returning - is palpable.

Frank, meanwhile, has been monitoring his new denizen with a jaundiced eye. He doesn't want Viktor any more than Viktor wants to be there, but cannot arrive at a solution. His attempts to lure Viktor to leave - thus making him a headache for INS instead of Frank - are stymied by Viktor figuring this plot out. He knows he'll get in trouble if he goes out, and smells a huge rat whenever Frank proposes some new way out for him.

It's hard to tell how much time is supposed to elapse throughout the movie, but enough at least for Viktor to learn English from industriously watching monitors of shows in English and comparing what is said to a translation in Krakosian. He also gradually makes friends with various low-level workers throughout the terminal; a baggage handler, a maintenance man, and a clerk assigned to clear people to leave. He wins them over and becomes part of the terminal family, and makes a home for himself in an unused corner of the place. Along the way, he falls in love with a flight attendant (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who is having man problems, and who recognizes Viktor as a friend but nothing more.

Directed by Stephen Spielberg, the film probably lasts a little longer than necessary but works longer than it would have under less capable hands. It is fascinating to watch Hanks in action; there is nothing in the way of acting that this man cannot handle, and he does such an admirable job of it here that if there was more weight to the movie he might have gleaned an award. His panic at being marooned in this huge place, amongst a sea of people uninterested in his plight, and his manner of turning things to his advantage, are all presented with such ingenuity and style that it is impossible not to cheer with every victory. Stanley Tucci, as Frank, is also memorable as the Simon Lagree figure, eager to bring Viktor low to be rid of him. All of the side characters that fill out Viktor's world make for interesting watching also, as their individual stories begin to come out.

This was a worthy 2 hours, not boring anywhere, and one of Tom Hanks' best works, in my opinion. It came and went without a lot of fanfare, but is good enough to have in a collection for a rainy night, when it's nice to reflect on the joys of a safe haven, a warm bed, and plenty to eat, in a place where people know you. I know I think of things differently now, when I fly out of the country. What would I do in the same circumstance?

Rated four stars by me only because it wasn't a particularly major film. The acting was top-notch by everybody.
September 28, 2008

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