Another half-baked film from Steven Spielberg

Rating: 4/10 (24 May 2005)

It's been over a decade since Spielberg had his one-two combo in 1993 with a groundbreaking futuristic action film (Jurassic Park) and a truly beautiful historical drama (Schindler's List) and, unless you count Saving Private Ryan (which, in my opinion, has several ingenious scenes but is too long and has a lot of filler) it's been that long since we've seen a truly memorable offering from the great master of the 70s and 80s. That's not to say that he made a bad film; there's some to be said for Catch Me If You Can, Minority Report, Amistad and, to a certain extent, AI as well; but none of these show any sign of the brilliant and original spark of the genius who created Close Encounters, Jaws, ET, Indiana Jones, The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun, or Duel. On the contrary - Spielberg seems to have created a monster he cannot control, and each film he makes seems, at least a bit, like a cruel parody on him, as he employs every Hollywood cliché that he himself invented all those years ago.
The Terminal is no exception. Spielberg's third collaboration with Tom Hanks - who (apologies to the hordes of Hanks fans out there), be he an astronaut, a boy in an adult body, a detective, a con artist or a refugee from a war-torn country, will always be Tom Hanks - which, like the other two, is based on a true story, is by far the weakest of the bunch. The film starts out with a great and fascinating premise, as a biting satire about the cruelty of capitalist bureaucracy, and as long as that is the subject, it's both funny and touching, as it shows the way the Uncle Sam treads all over the little man. Spielberg, however, doesn't manage to fill more than thirty minutes with that concept, and soon enough we find him swimming towards the safe and known shores of physical humor and romantic comedy. The story about the man forced to live in an airport is of course a terrible stretch, but it gets across and manages to convince; once Catherine Zeta Jones steps in is when the story becomes unbelievable. The film soon turns into a cheesy, unconvincing romance with some really bad dialogue, and loses all its uniqueness and originality.
Obviously, The Terminal has its moments; it's Spielberg, after all, and is entertaining at the very least. I expected more, though. In all likelihood this is Spielberg's worst movie, or at least the worst in some years. This one is good for a video rental, no more.