A Record May Have Been Set for Product Placement

Rating: 9/10 (18 June 2004)

Steven Spielberg says he wants to lay off the heavy stuff for a while and do some comedies. "The Terminal" is a terrific step in that direction with stars Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Stanley Tucci turning in outstanding performances in a story that easily might have fallen semi-flat. (It's actually a drama/comedy by the way.)
Hanks is Viktor Navaski who arrives at JFK (not really-it's a great mock-up) from his native Krakozhia only to find that his entry is barred because revolution has toppled the government, the U.S. has not recognized the new regime and the second-in-command of security for the international building, Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci) won't let him leave the place. Dixon has a potted view of immigration law on his side. The virtually non-English-speaking Navaski needs to get to Manhattan for a reason only disclosed near the end of the movie.
What follows is a wildly impossible tale of a guy who spends about nine months in the terminal, making friends, learning English, getting a paid-under-the-table construction job and enjoying a troublesome dalliance with Amelia, a beautiful but definitely mixed up flight attendant. That's Catherine Zeta-Jones, radiant and captivating as ever.
Navaski becomes friends, in a mutually dependent way, with an assortment of airport employees, each a lovable stereotype. His relationship with Dixon becomes increasingly adversarial. Dixon starts off as a typical bureaucrat whose underwear is two sizes too small but as time passes and he seeks promotion to top honcho, Navaski being viewed as a possible impediment to his advancement, a streak of pure meanness emerges. And Tucci is great as a truly little man in a job much too big for him.
Much but, happily, not all of the plot is predictable. There are a lot of good lines. And a couple of surprises at the end.
What makes "The Terminal" work? Very fine acting by the three main characters is one reason and the supporting cast is good too. Hanks is amusing but also believable as a guy unfortuitously in the wrong place at the wrong time - at first. The hint of a flowering relationship between Navaski and Amelia is, unusually for a story like this, quite adult.
Special kudos go to Hanks's dialog coach. The star's Krakozhian accent is flawless.
John Williams won't garner an Oscar for this score but it's a nice one.
This film approaches the Holy Grail for product display and screen marketing. The terminal has all the shops one would find at a real aerodrome and no opportunity is wasted. Every major chain - books, food, electronics, clothing, you name it - seems to be represented as is United Airlines (since there's no humor about crashes or hijackings they felt safe, I guess, having their logo everywhere including on flying machines).
I thought before seeing "The Terminal" that it wind up being a "6" or possibly even a "7" but in fact it's a
9/10. Thanks Mr. Spielberg, Mr. Hanks, Mr. Tucci and Ms. Zeta-Jones for making two hours in a movie theater on a hot, humid day speed by rewardingly.
Can't wait for the special features on the DVD release.