A Dull, Shabby, Plodding Fence-Sitter

Rating: 3/10 (22 October 2014)

Tom Hanks dons a thick sorta-Russian accent on his way to a life of legal limbo, operating in perpetuity from his suitcase in an airport terminal. It's got the seed of an interesting story, and no shortage of talent to see it through, but fails to click in even the most remote sense. It's baffling to me that it's Spielberg in the director's chair here, because The Terminal is so bland, run-of-the-mill and pandering that it feels like the work of a tentative first-timer who's terrified to let the material breathe. The entire cast is painted with the broadest of strokes, from Hanks's childish, confused stranger in a strange land to Stanley Tucci's ridiculously scheming US Customs official, and I quickly grew tired of their telegraphed games. Weak and pointless, with a needlessly stretched runtime, it's dull, flaky space filler at best.