Movielogr

Rating: 4.5 stars

All movies seen on 07/18/2004

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The Terminal (2004)

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Drama

Most recently watched by VicnaLobster, CaptainBigTime, sleestakk

Overview

Viktor Navorski is a man without a country; his plane took off just as a coup d’etat exploded in his homeland, leaving it in shambles, and now he’s stranded at Kennedy Airport, where he’s holding a passport that nobody recognizes. While quarantined in the transit lounge until authorities can figure out what to do with him, Viktor simply goes on living – and courts romance with a beautiful flight attendant.

Rated PG-13 | Length 128 minutes

Actors

Tom Hanks | Catherine Zeta-Jones | Stanley Tucci | Chi McBride | Diego Luna | Barry Shabaka Henley | Kumar Pallana | Zoe Saldana | Eddie Jones | Jude Ciccolella | Corey Reynolds | Guillermo Díaz | Rini Bell | Stephen Mendel | Valeriy Nikolaev | Michael Nouri | Ana Maria Quintana | Bob Morrisey | Sasha Spielberg | Susan Slome | Mik Scriba | Jim Ishida | Carlease Burke | Stephon Fuller | Dan Finnerty | Anastasia Basil | Lydia Blanco Garza | John Eddins | Kenneth Choi | Cas Anvar | Conrad Pla | Danette Mackay | Ian Finlay | Janique Kearns | Eddie Santiago | Kevin Ryder | Dušan Dukić | Mark Ivanir | Matt Holland | Benny Golson | Buster Williams | Mike Ledonne | Carl Allen | Scott Adsit | Robert Covarrubias | Terry Haig | Jeff Michael | Dilva Henry | Michelle Arthur | Thinh Truong Nguyen | Sandrine Kwan | Carl Alacchi | Tanya van Blokland | Evelyne De La Chenelière | Laurie Meghan Phelps | Ryan Stockstad

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Viewing Notes

This review originally appeared on Mediasharx.com. As of the last snapshot on March 26, 2005 it had received 745 views.

Fly Out To See THE TERMINAL

Steven Spielberg directs THE TERMINAL, a heartfelt film starring Tom Hanks as a foreigner that finds himself stuck in an airport and discovers the enterprising spirit to survive.

Viktor Navorski arrives in New York City from his homeland of Krakozia to fulfill a promise, with his only possessions consisting of two bags and a can of salted Planter’s peanuts. Navorski speaks little English and thus has trouble communicating with the airport employees, especially when his travel visa is denied and he is taken into federal custody by the airport’s Office of Homeland Security. When Navorski was in the air, flying from Eastern Europe to NYC, a violent coup by a rebel group overthrew the government in Krakozia. The United States responded quickly, officially denying any existence of the new government, the new Krakozia and any Krakozian currency or citizens. Therefore, Viktor Navorski is left without a home country and because of that, he cannot enter the United States. The assistant director of the airport’s Homeland Security department, Frank Dixon, recognizes the problem, but realizes he has little recourse except to release Navorski to the international terminal, which is technically not American soil, until such time as the problems in Krakozia have been resolved. He cannot leave the terminal, because he would then be an illegal alien.

As he speaks little English, Navorski understands little of what Dixon is telling him, until he sees televisions in the international terminal displaying images from the Krakozian coup. With his problem realized, Navorski sets out to make the best of his situation over the next year: he makes a home in the abandoned Gate 67, teaches himself better English, finds a job as a construction worker, makes friends with several of the airport employees and, above all, finds love with a flight attendant, Amelia Warren. All the while, Dixon, vying for a promotion, becomes Navorski’s nemesis as he tries every way he can conjure up to get the former Krakozian out of his terminal.

While Tom Hanks plays his role to the hilt, as usual, it is the surrounding cast that truly makes THE TERMINAL a thrill to watch. Catherine Zeta-Jones, perhaps looking the best she ever has in a film, as the lovelorn flight attendent Amelia Warren, fortunately adds just the right touch of sentiment to the sad character and doesn’t overact as some actresses would. And, while Diego Luna as the earnest and naive Enrique, Chi McBride as baggage handler Joe Mulroy and the beautiful Zoe Saldana as INS agent Dolores hit just the right notes as Viktor’s friends, it’s 85-year old Kumar Pallana who truly takes the film as Gupta Rajan. Pallana, with Tom Hanks, should receive, at the least, an Oscar nomination for playing the crabby Indian immigrant who sees spies everywhere.

Steven Spielberg gets 99 percent of the film correct; it’s at only the tail end of the film that you realize THE TERMINAL, to couch it in television terms, edges closer and closer to jumping the shark, as most stories are resolved perfectly one by one. Spielberg, being the superior director that he is, luckily doesn’t push the jump and ruin it; he just plays along the edges, dipping a toe into the water with love and warm-fuzzies that is expected with this romantic dramedy. Surprisingly, Spielberg doesn’t burden the audience with unnecessary political diatribe about the oppressiveness of the Office of Homeland Security or the love that everyone should have for all immigrants. Spielberg does what few directors can: he presents both sides of that taxing coin subtly and leaves you to make your own decision.

THE TERMINAL is a film that everyone but the most cynical will enjoy, as it has just the right mix of humor, drama and warm feelings to stay with you for days, and perhaps Oscar nominations, to come.

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