Fun, warm and engaging with Spielberg written all over it.

Rating: 7/10 (28 April 2009)

Inspired in part by a true event, The Terminal tells the story of Viktor Navorksi (Tom Hanks), a native of the fictional Eastern European country of Krakozhia, who flies to New York to keep a promise to his father. While Viktor's plane is in the air, there is a military coup, rendering his native country unrecognised and rendering Viktor with an invalid passport and no where else to go. In short, he is unacceptable. Unable to leave the JFK transit lounge or to fly home, Viktor settles in the airport and begins to find new ways to make money, amuse himself and make friends while learning English. In the process he meets Amelia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a troubled flight attendant whose relationship with a married man is beginning to take it's toll. She finds solace in Viktor's friendship, and Viktor develops that inevitable crush...
First of all, the obvious. Spielberg had production designer Alex McDowell build an entire terminal from scratch in an unused airplane hangar. The finished product is extremely impressive, even more so if you know that bit of trivia, so it should stand to reason that the star of the movie would be the set. Not so, as Spielberg proved with Jurassic Park, character and performance can work with technical brilliance rather than be outshone. The evidence of this is in Tom Hanks' mesmerising performance. Hanks infuses Victor with the same childlike wonder as that of his characters in Big and Forrest Gump. He loses himself in the role, from the accent right down to the walk and the blank expression, to the point where you can actually forget you're watching Tom Hanks. Although amusing early scenes have Viktor struggling with the language barrier, it's never at his expense. He's portrayed as a character with obstacles to get over and his resourcefulness in getting over them, never as an object of ridicule. In contrast, Catherine Zeta-Jones' character Amelia is not as likable as one would expect from a love interest, possibly because her character was not originally intended that way and during filming the chemistry between the two made it clear that the connection should be somewhat romantic. She isn't unnecessary, but she does give the impression that she is there solely to develop Viktor himself.
However, the other supporting players, Enrique (Diego Luna of Y Tu Mama Tambien), Gupta (Kumar Pallana) and Mulroy (Chi McBride) as airport employees never fall into the trap of 'annoying comedic padding' and are always amiable, funny and touching when they need to be. This motley crew formed a friendship during filming and it radiates off the screen. The role of workaholic immigration officer Frank Dixon is realised wonderfully in the hands of character actor Stanley Tucci. A flawed and complex creation, Dixon serves as the antagonist of the piece, trying desperately to get a promotion while trying to get Viktor out of his terminal so that he can be someone else's problem. Like Hanks' Carl Hanratty of Catch Me If You Can, it's difficult to label Dixon a bad guy. He's just doing his job, heartlessly and efficiently but is visibly conflicted about what he has to do, following the rulebook stubbornly and ruthlessly. The humanity that Tucci brings to the role elevates him beyond the usual moustache twirling villain.
On the directing side, Spielberg fills each of his frames with goodies. He has an entire airport set to play with and he uses every inch of it with a boyish delight. Despite the enormity of the set, it would still have been easy for it to become claustrophobic, but there's always something pretty to gawk at, Spielberg achieving the seemingly impossible task of making you want to live in an airport terminal. Spielberg has deliberately shied away from all out comedies since his flop '1941', but this movie's comedic element shows that he's gotten over that, flitting effortlessly between action blockbusters, sci-fi and serious historical movies. The only drawback is the overt sentimentality that dominates the last third of the movie. Some would say that this movie earns it's right to be sentimental, but it becomes a tad uncomfortable. Spielberg has been unfairly labelled as a sentimental director, due no doubt to films such as ET, Always and AI, but these people fail to realise that most of his films, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Jaws, Duel and Minority Report to name a few are at their core dark and disturbing in places, so Spielberg earns his right to lash on the weepies once in a while.
Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski's lighting and use of colour is always magnificent, but here he fills each shot with wonderfully rich golds and blues and his style, which has always complemented Spielberg's sleight of hand direction, has never been more suited to his director. The main feat achieved here is the use of artificial light doubling as daylight, something which the average film-goer won't notice, but without it, the illusion of the set would have failed.
John Williams' music is from the same ilk as his Catch Me score. Viktor's theme is an eastern European influenced riff in the form of a mischievous clarinet at the forefront which is instantly memorable and is the kind of theme that'll play a loop in your head for hours afterwards. It adds a further lightness to the film which in turn adds considerably to the overall feel good factor of a film already warming the cockles.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Spielberg has created another 'dessert' of a movie, which occasionally gets a little too sweet and sickly for it's own good, but is engaging enough that it always ensures you'll want to come back for that second helping.