Dim the lights, cue the music, and feel good about Eastern Europe

Rating: 6/10 (20 June 2004)

The new Tom Hanks-Steven Spielberg collaboration "The Terminal" is everything that you'd expect from these two. A straightforward plot, a clear cut hero's, villains, and conflicts, an an ending that doesn't fall into cliché, but isn't enough to run to the cinema for. What saves the film from mediocrity, though, is another virtuoso performance by Hanks and good supporting turns by Zeta-Jones and Tucci.
In a nutshell, The Terminal is the story of Viktor Navorski. A man who, after his fictitious country is overthrown in a military coup, is forced to live in an airport terminal by the methodically by-the-book Frank Dixon (Tucci). As Navorski tries to escape from the terminal, he makes friends both of those inside the terminal and of those passing through (Zeta-Jones), all the while proving to everyone around him that compassion is reason enough to travel around the world.
Hanks has been a mixed bag with his accents, but his Eastern European as done by Navorski will certainly garner him another Oscar nomination.
Spielberg doesn't do anything spectacular here, but he manages to give the terminal a life of itself. From the running shops to the pictures of Viktor's hand prints after a touching scene, Spielberg once again immerses the viewer in a world that makes them wantto pay attention. His standard work, but his standard would be the best of other's careers.
All in all, The Terminal is a nice break from summer explos-athons, but it's nothing to write home about- 6/10
Line of the Film- "He really loves that goat."-Navorski
Look of the Film- Navorski as he closes the Planters can at the end of the film.