An enjoyable film but a lost opportunity.

Rating: 7/10 (27 April 2008)

The one thing that struck me as truly bizarre about this entire film was the fact that DreamWorks never actually used the original story details that they (reportedly) shelled out around $250,000 for. As the old adage goes, "true life is stranger than fiction", and in the case of Mr. Merhan Karimi Nasseri, the (former) Iranian citizen who is the unsung hero of the real-life story which inspired this work, that is absolutely the case. The most important part of any film is establishing credibility in the opening segment but the reworking of real-life events that the scriptwriters gave to this film was just not credible. This is a great, great pity as it is a truly remarkable sounding story about immigration bureaucracy and mistakes, stolen credentials, a human-rights court struggle, and a 16-year confinement to the international transit lounge of Paris' Charles De Gaulle airport.
It's every film maker's prerogative to instil whatever political or emotional overtones that they see fit into their work. And Spielberg definitely left his overtones all over this film, from the grossly overdone syrupy schmaltz in some areas to the "politically correct" and fantasy-style portrayal of immigration at United States airports regarding detainees. I myself have been harassed, strip-searched, and the contents of my baggage overturned by United States immigration on numerous occasions just due to the colour of my skin and the fact my name looks "indian". So the portrayal that US immigration finally has "compassion for the human plight" was nigh-on insulting in the light of my own experiences.
However, contrary to other reviews posted, I still believe that Spielberg spent a great deal of effort on the visual and audio realism that is the reason for his well-earned reputation. I also believe he had to make some very serious judgements about how to interpret events in a real-life story and about whether those events should even be portrayed in the film in the first place. The facts show that Mr. Nasseri indulged in political activity against his own country within the confines of the United Kingdom, and that the British Government later (unrelatedly) denied his application for citizenship based on his claims of British ancestry. So, given the potentially hazardous material there was to work with, I think Spielberg did a good job in finding the likable aspects of a character that could have easily been unfavourably viewed by audiences. He also did a very reasonable job in emphasising the fact that life has a little humour even in the darkest of situations, and it is this for me that made the film quite enjoyable overall. As for the actors, Tom Hanks's attention to detail in language and character was excellent (care of a Bulgarian dialect coach), though a little cheesy in places. And the other performances, particularly Stanley Tucci and Barry Shabaka Henley, were good given the script they had to work with.
Of course, the one problem you have with dramatising any truly bizarre real-life story is that you have to bring it within the credible reaches of your target audience if they are to make the leap of faith on their part to connect with it. This is Spielberg's forte and in this film he created a work that was enjoyable and believable for cosy, suburban households without the entire concept being lost on them. However, having purchased the rights to a story about a living person, you have to wonder what drives a director to literally ignore real-life facts in favour of an almost completely unbelievable plot rewrite. In doing so, he squandered an opportunity to make a legendary film while, at the same time, trivialising the events that mentally all-but destroyed a man confined to a terminal building due to an unfortunate incident at a railway station followed by 16 years of bureaucratic red tape.
Would I recommend this film as enjoyable viewing? Yes. Then I would recommend going to a news website and actually reading the real story. At the time of writing, The Guardian newspaper (UK) article "The man who lost his past" has a one year feature documentary about Mr. Nasseri. I guarantee you'll find the real-life version a lot more fascinating.