Light-hearted, sometimes unreasonable, unrealistic, poorly acted except by Mr Hanks

Rating: 3/10 (25 March 2007)

'The Terminal' by Steven Spielberg is a rather cheap family movie with a dubious message. A man is caught in the midst of a changing political situation in his own country while arriving at JFK New York Airport and being left with no valid visa to enter the USA. For some strange reason he is shown the door to enter the International Lounge but not American soil. He is told to wait there and is willing to comply however long it may take. As you can expect passengers and crew come and go while the man with no country and almost no English accommodate himself to stay at the airport to the annoyance and amusement of the staff. He gets acquainted with some characters all quite out of ordinary. As the story unfolds, we learn that this unlucky delayed passenger has now lived at the airport for nine months and able to make a living there. We are also told that his only reason to come to New York is to get a signature from a jazz saxophonist to complete his father's treasured collection of such 57 autographs from other famous jazz musicians.
And here's the message for you: if you are a man of principles, you will do this to honour a pledge to your late father then immediately return to your own country without causing too much trouble to the immigration authorities. At the time of too many suspicious immigrants and travellers this should be seen as a most welcome outcome. The other benefit is for Tom Hanks' fans only. He is quite outstanding in his part but stands really alone in terms of quality. The director sadly serves too many contradictory purposes and achieves nothing but a family movie easy to forget.