The Terminal

Reviewed by Rich Drees

     Anyone who has done a certain amount of air travel knows that it is inevitable that you'll wind up waiting in an airport terminal for some period of time. For Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks), the wait becomes somewhat longer than anyone anticipates. As a visitor from the Eastern European sounding nation of Krakhozia, Viktor finds himself a man without a country when a military coupe puts his homeland's diplomatic status in limbo, thus negating his passport and visa. Unable to travel home and unable to enter the United States, Viktor is sentenced to an indefinite stay in the shopping mall like atmosphere of the international lounge of JFK airport by airport security official Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci). Viktor quickly adapts to his situation, figuring out ways to earn money and subsisting on food from the lounge's various fast food places. (Evidently Super Size Me hasn't screened in Krakhozia yet.) As the weeks turn into months, Viktor has made a home for himself at an unused departure gate lounge, made friends with many of the terminal employees and found himself falling for Amelia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a stewardess with a self-professed bad history of relationships, all while patiently waiting for permission to pass through the terminal doorway to New York City.

     Hanks does the expected great job in bringing the stranded Viktor to life. At first, the barely English speaking Viktor is befuddled by Dixon’s attempts to explain his situation. But when he spies a news report on a lounge television, Hanks does a remarkable job of displaying Viktor’s growing horror, confusion and ultimate loneliness with no dialogue. Hanks mines the character for every bit of depth that he can and doesn’t come up short.

     Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Spielberg’s direction. While he does a serviceable job here, but one that lacks the passion he brings to projects like 1993’s Schindler’s List or 1998’s Saving Private Ryan. While he does stage some interesting shots and sequences, most of the film feels like he’s own, no pun intended, autopilot. Despite capturing some of the tribulations of air travel early on in the film, it's clear that Spielberg is perhaps divorced from what most of us have to go through. During the montage of Viktor learning to fend for himself in the lounge, we’re shown him buying a cheeseburger of seventy-five cents, a price that particular menu item has passed long ago. The film also gets a bit mawkish with Viktor's attempts at playing Cyrano for a ground crewman who is afraid of approaching a beautiful, young immigration officer. Likewise, Zeta-Jones' character is too sketchy to create an impression and may leave audiences wondering why, besides her great smile, Viktor falls for her.