"Life is waiting."

The Terminal (2004): 8/10

Poster (c) DreamWorks SKG

I'm a Steven Spielberg fan. His movies always have some sort of annoying staple to them: they almost all involve annoying precocious kids, they all have a happy ending, and they all go on for too long. But I respect him, and I think he's a very talented director. And now it seems like this guy can do no wrong. He's in the works for Indiana Jones 4 and Jurassic Park IV, and he came off of the hugely entertaining Catch Me If You Can to go onto The Terminal, a light, enjoyable, and surprisingly funny movie that is Tom Hanks' best role since Forrest Gump or before. Add Kumar Pallana (Pagoda from The Royal Tenenbaums) and Catherine Zeta-Jones in an underdeveloped role, and you've got all of the makings for a good movie.

Viktor Navorski (Hanks) is an immigrant from the fictional country of Krakozhia whose country, once he lands at JFK, erupts in a civil war and a military coup. His passport is now invalid and he's not allowed to leave the airport without it. Therefore, he has to live at the airport until he can leave. Barely speaking a word of English, Viktor slowly becomes adapted to living at Gate 67 and meeting many of the people who work there, including flight attendant Amelia (Zeta-Jones). Meanwhile, airport bureaucrat Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci) does everything he can to make Viktor someone else's problem.

The airport that was created for this film is, I believe, the largest working set ever created for a movie. And I tell ya, I would love to be stuck in an airport like that. With product placement everywhere and a flight departure/arrival board that seems about 40 years too old, it does seem great. Seriously, though, making a set like that and making it all work is amazing. Making use of it to its fullest potential is even more amazing. It seems like The Terminal has everything-a great set, cinematography, acting, script, directing. I've already talked about the set. Let me go into the others.

The cinematography by Spielberg collaborator Janusz Kaminski is really great. Almost all of the shots are done indoors (on the aforementioned set), and many of the shots are sweeping ones done inside. Everything's so precise and very beautiful to look at. Hanks, as an Easter European immigrant, does an amazing job. He actually does seem to be this person, and convinced me. His mannerisms, language, and accent are all perfect. It's either his best work or second to Forrest Gump. The script by Sacha Gervasi and Jeff Nathanson is great, also. It's very funny, much funnier than I expected. Zeta-Jones' character doesn't have much to do, but her mediocre work is balanced with Hanks' amazing work. The script has the right amount of pathos and comedy, a coherent, flowing sense to it, and, well, is just overall great. And lastly, Spielberg's direction. He seems to show some restraint here, and doesn't go for his usuals I mentioned earlier as much. There's no children, but there's a happy ending and a bit could have been taken out. The ending was just kind of there. Nothing that exciting. But The Terminal is a surprising movie-one that almost needs to be seen to be believed.

Rated PG-13 for brief language and drug references.

Review Date: June 27, 2004