Fanciful and disappointing

Rating: 4/10 (21 February 2005)

Steven Spielberg had a mega-hit with E.T. in the early 80s... and, with few exceptions (e.g. Schindler's List) he's been remaking the same movie ever since. It seems with The Terminal that he's proved himself incapable of making much else.
This time, Tom Hanks plays a man from a remote Slavic country who is trapped in a New York airport terminal when a revolution in his country invalidates his passport. A wholly unrealistic premise, except it's based on a true story. The problem is, instead of using the true story as a real basis for an important film, Spielberg instead tries to turn a serious plight into a fanciful fairy tale.
Tom Hanks, who is an eminently capable actor, gets very little chance on screen to develop his character into a true human being, distraught and frightened as anyone would be under these circumstances. He never seems frustrated or fed up with the bureaucratic red tape that is essentially holding him hostage. He is unbelievably patient, choosing to adopt a happy-go-lucky existence paying for food with quarters from the cart return machines, making friends with airport employees, and chasing romance with a flighty stewardess played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. You never really understand Hanks's character's motives or inner thoughts. He's just this inexplicably resourceful, patient, plucky man who arouses some curiosity among the people around him.
Stanley Tucci, also normally a capable actor, plays the bad-guy immigration supervisor who has made it his personal crusade to keep Tom Hanks from setting foot on American soil. This lends an air of incredulity to the whole thing, because you get the sense that Hanks is not being kept prisoner due to a bureaucratic mix-up, but due to a small, petty man who would never have so much power in reality. Language barrier or not, it is completely unrealistic to think that anyone would simply sit in an airport for months without trying to contact diplomatic channels, other immigration offices, or even his family or friends back home.
The acting is appalling, unfortunately, considering the talent lined up in the movie. There are some fun peripheral characters, but they just adopt the stereotypes of amusing foreigners without ever seeming real. Catherine Zeta-Jones is ridiculous as Hanks's love interest, playing a character that anyone in their right mind would run away from in a heartbeat. The romance between the two is phony and contrived.
Most importantly, this movie had a chance to really say something - about immigration laws, about red tape, about institutionalization... about pretty much anything. Unfortunately, it chose to turn itself into a piece of fluff. And uninspired fluff at that.
Highly disappointing. 4/10.