Outstanding work -- unique among Spielberg's greatest

Rating: Null/10 (20 June 2004)

As a longtime Spielberg fan, I admit I had high expectations. I was not disappointed. It was easily one of his best, up there with "Catch Me If You Can."
I'd rather not over-analyze "The Terminal". This is a movie about people. Nothing historic, no sci-fi, no special effects, no dinosaurs, and no political statements. I laughed. I cried. I left the theatre thinking. It was a simple, yet powerfully effective movie.
Hanks proves once again why he is one of the top 5 best actors on the planet. Jones was absolutely convincing as the beautiful and charming, yet ultimately insecure love interest.
It was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. It has very poignant moments, which were, IMO, not "sappy" in the least (as I've heard other reviewers lament). The poignant moments were appropriate and realistic. People in this movie responded to the various situations just as you and I would.
I saw only two criticisms I could make of Spielberg's direction for the entire movie. 1) I saw a jump cut in the scene 2) The first time Henley's character did the juggling at the table scene, it was uproarious -- people were in tears; the second time it was mildly funny, the third time, it was a bit annoying. A good joke was tainted by overuse. Oh, and maybe a third --- I could see how flight attendants might be offended by some pretty strong stereotypes and over generalizations. (*sigh* why do we always have to come back to political correctness?) ...pretty picky criticisms, though. Everything else was perfection. 9 out of 10.