A film about waiting.

Rating: 5/10 (1 June 2005)

Funnily enough I saw this one on a plane, which is never the best place to see a movie, but I was in an 'airport' frame of mind, so the film managed to strike a chord with me. Flying is the ultimate process in which you spend time where you don't want to be in order to get where you want to be, and the related frame of mind is similarly restless. The focus of this film is on people who are stuck in the midst of this shiftless world, but stuck for differing reasons.
Our main character, Navorski (played by Tom Hanks) has slipped into a 'crack' in the international immigration system, unable to get into the US, and unable to go home. He therefore has to live in the airport, waiting to escape into New York. He meets a variety of people whilst he waits. He befriends a man waiting for an opportunity to talk to a beautiful immigration controller, who in turn is waiting for love. He meets a cleaner waiting for the courage to face justice in India. He meets a beautiful air stewardess who is waiting for a good man. Navorski is waiting to fulfil his father's aim, for which he waited his whole life. His fate is controlled by a man waiting for promotion, and so it goes on.
Navorski is a selfless and good person. He helps others whenever he is able, and the end result is that he is helped to his goal by those who he assisted along the way. Finally, he achieves his goal, completes the father's collection of jazz legends and goes home.
The moral? Good things come to those who wait, I guess. I landed and went home, and I was much happier there.