Viktor arrives in New York’s JFK airport just as Krakozhia’s government is overthrown by a military coup, invalidating his passport and his visa. Unable to continue with his trip to the United States (and, without a passport, unable to return home); Viktor is stranded in the International Terminal by a Homeland Security tightass played by Stanley Tucci. Viktor is quickly positioned as a variation on Hanks’ character from Cast Away; in which a determined, self-reliant man is stranded in a hostile environment and must learn to survive. The hour or so that finds Viktor learning to read English and searching for any means of financial support is a lot of fun, supported by Spielberg’s tight direction and Janusz Kaminski nimble, sometimes impossible camerawork. This is the reason The Terminal was made, and if you do decide to go, the reason to see it.

I’m sure I will not be the only person to see The Terminal as a suggested microcosm of modern corporate culture America. When he asks what he’s supposed to do while stranded in the airport, Viktor is told he is to do “the one thing he can do: shop.” Everywhere we look in the Terminal, recreated as an incredible Hollywood set, all we see are corporate stores (the bookstore is even aptly named Borders) and food stands. Aside from the occasional plane that passes by the window of Viktor’s makeshift home (an abandoned, crumbling gate), this is an airport that does not appear to put many people onto airplanes; to our eyes it operates as a gigantic mall with a better-than-average security team.

Eventually, Viktor falls in with a group of foreigners and outsiders who work in the airport: Gupta (Kumar Pallana), the janitor, Joe (Chi McBride) the baggage handler, and Enrique (Diego Luna), the food cart driver. All of these characters offer us a look at America as seen through the eyes of the alien other. But with the all-American Hanks as the star, and the ever-popular Spielberg as director, The Terminal twists around on itself: this is the insider’s view of the outsider. So the question must be asked: is this how others see us or how we hope others see us? Perhaps Spielberg wants to create a new American melting pot; besides Tucci and his government goon squad, the “legitimate” citizens are kept mostly to the background, and Viktor’s love interest Amelia is played by the Welsh Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Given that The Terminal is a film about waiting, it is worth mentioning that the film is far from boring, and downright entertaining for long stretches. It works best in its least complicated moments, just Viktor and his plight. But since it is about a man in the absence of something to do, subplots get dragged in that range from the cute but eventually tiresome angle involving Enrique and his secret crush on an immigration officer (who also happens to be a Star Trek nerd – i.e., she’s an outsider too) to the cute but ultimately unconvincingly love story between Viktor and Amelia. I liked the somewhat surprising motivation behind Viktor’s refusal to leave America, but the final half hour of the film descends into contrived theatrics. One shot of Viktor on an escalator, surrounded by an adoring crowd, should have been cut on basic principles. How did anyone in the production fool themselves into thinking that it rang true?