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The Terminal sounds at first like science fiction film, but it is not. Instead, The Terminal tells the story of a man without a country and without a life; he is stranded, stranded, and stranded again at the same airport terminal.  While Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) was in the air traveling to America, there was a war in his country.  End of tourist status. Steven Spielberg directs the film with his distinctive loving and humorous touch.  John Williams wrote the sound track, which, as usual, is well done.
 
Viktor, who doesn’t speak English, only intended a short visit to America. The purpose is private and up to the audience to discover. It has something to do with a certain can Viktor carries with him.  It is when trying to enter the U.S. that airport officials (headed by the sarcastic Stanley Tucci from Road to Perdition and friendly Chi McBride from television’s Boston Public) tell Viktor that he must remain there until things are sorted out. The sorting out process takes months, in which time Viktor makes a home for himself at an abandoned gate, gets a job in construction, plays Romeo for two young people (Diego Luna and Zoe Saldana), makes loads of new friends and falls in love with a flight attendant played by Catherine Zeta-Jones
 
This is really Stanley Tucci’s film; with his streamlined haircut and Type A-personality, he’s not a man to fool with. The term “emotion” is not in his vocabulary, but “career advancement” certainly is and if he can get rid of Viktor, it’s on to the next step of the government ladder. There is a telling moment when he asks the gorgeous Zeta-Jones why she fell for someone like Viktor and she replies, “That’s something a man like you would never understand.” 
 
Tom Hanks almost fades away sometimes. The make-up job on him, designed to make him look like a dowdy Eastern European, is overly dowdy; Hanks looks positively pasty. When he stands next to Catherine, who sees Tom, or anyone else, for that matter?
 
Any traveler will relate to those travel situations where you feel helpless and Hanks captures that desperate situation look in his eyes. Hanks has a low voice, though, so when he speaks in a dialect, it is hard to catch everything.
 
The supporting cast is rich in character and each one has a standout moment. Kumar Pallana, who stole The Royal Tanenbaums, is a janitor who thinks everyone else is a spy. Diego Luna (Y Tu Mama, Tambien) is love-smitten with Zoe Saldana (Drumline), while Barry Henley (Ali) has to keep peace between everyone. If you ever wondered, the people who make a major air terminal work don’t sit behind a desk.
 
The Terminal is not a perfect movie. Product placement is unavoidable in this commercial air terminal. There are coincidences too convenient and Zeta-Jones’ involvement with another man is never fully explained. Life is bittersweet and so is love. Tucci’s surveillance cameras have a life of their own and Be Careful When Wet signs are a major joke in the film. In fact, it’s a wonder there weren’t lawyers sitting by each of the signs. Viktor shows ingenuity in fixing up an abandoned gate as a residence, and a running gag is people asking Viktor where he lives and his reply, “Gate 67,” to which they laugh thinking he has quite a sense of humor.
 
The Terminal comes down to how to deal with glitches in life.  Viktor was handed a major one. The audience quickly wins his sympathy and feels his frustration. The romance seems inserted to give Zeta-Jones a part. She gets a top billing, but isn’t in the film that much. Most of the actors have worked together on previous films and there is a naturalness here that almost makes the film seem comfortable. However, the audience will probably want to send Tucci to charm school and lock the door behind him.
 
Copyright 2004 Marie Asner
Submitted 6/20/04