Entertaining, funny and utterly irresponsible

Rating: Null/10 (13 June 2004)

"Terminal" is funny, amusing, and cute. Tom Hanks was superior and authentic - behavior, body mannerisms and voice inflection, down to smallest details (check out the notorious resourcefulness of Eastern-Europeans - making a bed from lounge chairs minus arm rests). I liked how Mr. Sp. touched on family relations, dysfunctional romance, and ethnic idiosyncrasies. I am a huge fan of Mr. Sp.'s towering genius.
BUT... while I laughed a lot while watching "Terminal," I ALSO thought that it was utterly offensive and irresponsible in its treatment of the subject of Eastern Europeans' exodus and immigration. Viktor was a goof and a warm-hearted idiot. He was an inconsistent composite Slavic archetype - spoke at least 5 broken Slavic languages; Krakosia sounds like the Polish town of Krakow; his Fodor books were printed in plain Russian (Polish hate Russians' guts and anything Russian).
What offended me is this: 15 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and mass immigration of E.Europeans into the US, the first-ever Hollywood film that touches this subject is an irresponsible drivel about a one-day visit to NYC of a misty-eyed, autograph-collecting goof. Sadly, it comes from the director who has a history of making magnificent artistic statements about subjects deserving of such treatments. "Terminal" COULD HAVE BEEN funny, metaphorical, amusing YET more considerate.