A trifle over sweet it may be, but the showing of the spirit is very pleasing.

Rating: 7/10 (11 August 2011)

During a stop over at JFK Airport, Viktor Navorski finds that his homeland of Krakozhia has erupted into chaos and a military coup has taken place. This puts him bureaucratic purgatory because his passport is no longer valid, meaning he can't get home until Krakozhia's new government is officially ratified. Forced to spend his immediate future solely in the confines of the airport, Viktor shows tremendous spirit to survive in his totally alien surroundings.
The Terminal is loosely based on the case of an Iranian gentleman who was trapped in a French airport for almost ten years. Given the complete Hollywood treatment, The Terminal just manages to keep on the good side of good by fusing its fabled heart with a triumph of the will story line. Viktor {Tom Hanks perfectly cast} must use all his wits just to survive in this unique situation, be it a resourceful way of getting cash, a stoic drive to learn the English language from a simple travel guide, or making friends with an oddball assortment of airport personal, Viktor engages us as he goes about his merry way. The scenarios that are thrown up of course make for many a laugh, more so given that the said airport personal, played by Barry Shabaka Henley, Kumar Pallana and Diego Luna, are proper residents of America, but are actually equally as alien to the folk on the street as Viktor is!
In amongst the frivolity {which is great and very rewarding}, there's a question of how people treat people who are not English speaking? Perhaps director Stephen Spielberg wanted to make a point here about folk presuming that those alien to the language one speaks are cretins? Annoyances getting in the way of normality? Maybe, perhaps. It's certainly the impression I got from watching it on my latest revisit. Sadly the fun and serious angle is let down by the good old romantic strand that is wedged into a film that didn't need it. For sure Catherine Zeta Jones is beautiful, but her character is weak and adds nothing to the film's basic structure. In fact it feels out of place, in the wrong airport perhaps? On the major plus side we have a wonderful performance from Stanley Tucci as airport commandant Frank Dixon, Dixon is a complete jobs worth, a stickler for the rules and views Navorski as a threat to the smooth running of his airport. If we discount the pitch perfect show from Hanks? Then Tucci most definitely takes the acting honours on show.
It's a very enjoyable film that has a couple of underlying veins of seriousness, it's just a shame about the tagged on romance forcing it out into pointless treacle territory. 7/10