Unrealistic scenes from an airport mall

Rating: 5/10 (23 June 2004)

As the end credits rolled I wondered how much of Andrew Niccol's original idea remained in the final cut. I maybe wrong, but something tells me Niccol's vision might have been sharper, edgier. Because "The Terminal" comes off as just too fluffy for something he'd devise.
Although the film's inspired by the true story of an Iranian immigrant who's lived at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport since 1988, Steven Spielberg's made a slight comedy that doesn't contain an ounce of reality. It's occasionally amusing, if 25 minutes too long.
Tom Hanks' Viktor is a lovable lug. He waddles through the international terminal at JFK Airport and ingratiates himself with the people. Hanks fits the role well - then again, he could play these earnest guys in his sleep. It's nothing we haven't seen from him before.
Catherine Zeta-Jones does capably as Amelia Warren, a flight attendant who keeps bumping into Viktor. The problem with Zeta-Jones is that whatever role she plays, be it a cat burglar or a musically inclined jailed murderess, the audience is always aware that it's the Zeta-Jones on the screen. She never wholly envelops a role.
Throughout "The Terminal" I kept wondering what another actress, one with more dramatic depth, say, Michelle Pfeiffer or Uma Thurman, might have done with Amelia, how much more resonant and engaging the Viktor-Amelia relationship might have been.
There's some fine supporting work from Kumar Pallana as Gupta, the Indian janitor, and Barry Shabaka Henley, as an airport security officer.
Despite some giant plot holes, the film works when it occasionally delves into the other world that exists within the airport - this subterranean netherworld of baggage handlers, construction workers, food service people, janitors, customs officials and late-night poker games.
But there aren't any moments in this film that feel real. This is all fantasy - from improbable romances to lapses in logic to the "Oh well, aw shucks" denouement. (By the way, this film has too many endings.)
This JFK airport doesn't seem as frenetic a place as it should be; the only bit of anguish is early in the film when Viktor rushes from one TV screen to another looking at war footage from his homeland and being unable to find out what's happening.
Spielberg gives the film such an airy feel that he misses golden opportunities to comment about how airports have essentially turned into malls where planes fly out and land, as well our treatment of immigrants these days, especially if they're Arab. There's absolutely no sense of a post-9/11 America in this airport. One line of dialogue briefly hints about the issue: Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci), the acting chief of airport security, says, "They've detained so many people there's no room anywhere" when he fails to get Viktor sent to a federal detention center.
"Compassion is the foundation of this country," a character tells Dixon. We know that's not always the case post-9/11. But this film is so enraptured by its manufactured whimsy that it doesn't care to probe the issue any deeper, even in the background.
One thing you will notice: how prominently Burger King, Borders and United Airlines feature throughout the massive set that was built. Ya gotta love product placement. (Maybe it will help United crawl out of bankruptcy.)
This comedy doesn't pack huge laughs. Instead, it opts for occasionally amusing vignettes that might make you smile. It's not a terrible way to spend time ("Connie and Carla" anyone?), but it could have been much more rewarding and less disappointing, considering the tremendous talent involved in front of and behind the camera. A bit more reality and a little less fable would have worked wonders without losing any of the story's magic.