Good, but has too many weak parts.

Rating: 7/10 (28 June 2004)

Definitely one of Spielberg's lesser efforts, one that might play at the 2 AM slot on TCM when he dies. One wonders why he took this project; it seems more like something Robert Zemeckis might knock off. There are a couple of moments of such amazingly poor writing that you wonder if Spielberg, or even Tom Hanks, even read that page of the script. However, most of the film is a decent human comedy. A man from a made-up Eastern European country lands at JFK airport and finds out that his government has been overthrown. His passport and visa are unacceptable, and no one knows what to do with him. The head of the airport (Stanley Tucci) orders him to wait in the airport while they figure something out, only they never do. Hanks becomes a permanent resident there, becomes friends with most of the little people who work in the airport, and even courts a pretty flight attendant whom he runs into now and then (Catherine Zeta-Jones). It's all pretty fun, and even at times quite romantic (there's also a subplot where Hanks helps a young food delivery man win the heart of a woman on the airport security staff that is kind of sweet). I also like the way the film celebrates the melting pot that makes up America. It's a nice picture in a time of ever-rising insularity. Yet there are so many bits holding the film back. The screenplay really needed some editing. Hanks carries around a peanut jar through the whole movie. We are told fairly early that it does not contain peanuts, and so the audience knows that a big surprise is coming. When we actually find out, it's quite lame, and, metaphorically, this part of the film just doesn't work. And, strangely, there's this one character who works a lot towards bringing the movie down a peg or two. The character of Gupta seems to ruin the movie. His backstory is melodramatic and not fit for this story, he's a paranoid, sadistic jerk (he is the janitor, and he washes the floors just so people will slip on them), and he provides the movie with the silliest deus ex machina imaginable. That's not to mention the actor, Kumar Pallana, is a horrible actor. This film is actually inspired by the true story of an Iranian man who became stranded at a Parisian airport after his briefcase, which contained his passport and everything he owned, was stolen. The original story is much more interesting than The Terminal. A movie has already been made in France about it, but it hasn't been seen much outside of that country. I think the real story would make a great film. 7/10.