Good Movie, One for the Romantics Among Us

Rating: 6/10 (11 February 2007)

The Greeks believed that, in order to become emotionally involved in a dramatisation that was clearly not reality, you had to 'suspend your disbelief'. Well, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed 'The Terminal', but I'm a romantic. If you're not, you're going to need a pretty thick rope to suspend your disbelief for this one. Eastern European Viktor Lavorski (Hanks) finds himself stateless and without citizenship when a military coup erupts in his country, during his flight to New York. As such, he is not admitted to the US, and must camp out in JFK. For months - during which time he gradually befriends most of the employees, and becomes a familiar figure shuffling around the terminal. At night, he teaches himself English by comparing the Russian and English versions of the same tourism guide, by the light of a miner's helmet which he wears to help him read. Always dapper and impeccably dressed - as we would be, if we were living rough in an airport - he soon catches the eye of air hostess Catherine Zeta-Jones, who asks him out. (I have spent many long hours in airports over the years, and never even SAW Catherine Z-J, never mind get asked out by her. Or, for that matter, by ANY air hostess. Which, incidentally, is their loss.) Anyway, in between his courtship by the alluring Miss Jones, he lays out a well-appointed apartment with bed and stereo in a corner of the building, builds a massive mosaic fountain within the terminal rest room, and wins the affections of practically all the staff in the eateries around the terminal floor. Not bad for an illegal alien with no English. See what I mean about suspending your disbelief? But hey, it's Hollywood. You can hang your disbelief on one of those big white letters up on that hillside. Once you do that - it's a fun movie.