it'a all about waiting

Rating: 6/10 (22 April 2005)

Politics first: Viktor Navorski is man who gets stuck on JFK Airport because his homeland Krakochia is on the verge of revolution that has been spreading during his flight to US. Krakochia cannot be identified as a country and therefore Navorski does not have a permission to walk on US soil or fly back home. Hours of waiting turn to days,days turn to months and before he even notices Viktor has a life in the Airport.
Steven Spielberg continues his collaboration with Tom Hanks (previous was Catch me if you can) in a film that is not Spielberg on his finest and even not Spielberg-Hanks team on its finest but still manages to proof that Hanks was originally a comedian. Spielberg's old school humour relies on the odd circumstances of life in a busy international terminal and very much on physical comedy in which both it rather well succeeds.
The weakest link propably is the "romantic" storyline that keeps going in circles and does feel a bit glued on although being quite realistic thinking of two strangers meeting in such circumstances. Catherine Zeta-Jones feels quite out of the place here and the chemistry between Hanks and her does not utterly convince. Stanley Tucci's terminal manager is overworked and kept me thinking how this kind of movie does not need such "baddie" at all.