The Terminal Review
by Jerry Saravia (faust668 AT aol DOT com)July 6th, 2004
THE TERMINAL (2004)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Viewed on July 2nd, 2004
RATING: Four stars
I often question overwhelmingly positive opinions about admired filmmakers and actors, particularly a one-two punch team like Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Digressing for a moment here, I am a big Martin Scorsese fan. I think he is the greatest American director alive, for the time being. Therefore, I wish I could say that "Gangs of New York," his last major film, was a disappointment, as many found it to be, but I thought it was one of the most powerful epics ever made. And that leads me to Steven Spielberg, a formidable director with a curious desire lately not to overinflate or pontificate manipulative emotions. And, leaving aside the execrable "1941" and "Hook," Spielberg has not made a single bad film. Every work speaks for itself, from "Saving Private Ryan" to "Catch Me if You Can." Those last two pictures also starred Tom Hanks. These guys never seem to disappoint me but I suppose I was waiting for one of them to fail, just once. Failure is not a bad thing - it just builds character. Still, "The Terminal" is one of the breeziest, most charming comedies in quite some time, and a truly unique marvel thanks to Spielberg and Hanks.
The setting is the JFK International Airport. The man without a country is Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks), just arriving in America from the fictional Krakozia, a Balkan country. Unfortunately, as he arrives at customs, he is denied entrance into America. Basically, he cannot leave the airport! According to Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci), a customs official, a military coup has bound Krakozia in a vice - nobody can go or leave from that country. This means that Narvoski can only hang about the lounge and wait for the coup to be lifted - he is persona non grata. Dixon hopes Narvoski will leave so that INS can take care of him. The Balkan man, however, speaking only a little English and confused of his situation, returns luggage carts to get quarter refunds, applies for a job with every store, sleeps in a decrepit hangar, flirts with a flight attendant, Amelia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), makes friends with a janitor, Gupta (Kumar Pallana), who suspects the Balkan is a spy, and a lovestruck food services carrier (Diego Luna) who hopes Narvoksi can help him win the affections of a lovely INS official (Zoe Saldana).
Part of the charm of "The Terminal" is its square focus on Narvoski, a man with nothing to lose and one never angry at the prospect of staying at a terminal for 9 months (based on a true story of an Iranian who's been stuck at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris since 1988). Navorksi tries to make his stay more comfortable, even having fun at meeting with the INS official every day despite being rejected for a visa with those pesky green forms. And he even gets a construction job at 11 dollars an hour!
A relationship also develops with Amelia that could make or break Narvoski. He discovers Amelia is having an affair with a married man, though she has an uncontrollable habit of making dates with men. She is a 20-year employee living out of hotels and a suitcase - in a way, she is as stuck in her predicament as Narvoski is. That makes them compatible, to some degree, and they have a mutual understanding of Napoleon Bonaparte and Italian food.
What makes "The Terminal" fly is its grounded simplicity. This movie never intends to makes its laughs obvious, showing Spielberg's penchant for less is infinitely more (a truism that needs more practice). The staging of moments like the initial encounter between Narvoski and the tempermental Dixon is assured in its lack of kinetic energy - simple and static with subtle camera moves enhance the mood. This movie doesn't want to bang you over the head with heavy pratfalls or slapstick, though there are a few terrific moments where passengers slip on wet floors while Gupta sits and smiles. Spielberg and Hanks's laid-back persona allows for small comic miracles, all through insinuation and practicality (and this is a nod to the work of Jacques Tati, one who believed in simplicity to evoke laughs). We have seen the cliche of a man who can't comfortable sleep on his bed - I remember the hysterical motions of Jack Nicholson maneuvering himself in a waterbed in "About Schmidt." Hanks does one better as he brings a host of lounge chairs, dismantles certain parts, and makes a nice, cozy bed out of it.
There are a few nifty surprises in "The Terminal," though it is not fair to reveal them. Taking cues from Tati's "Mr. Hulot's Holiday" and Charlie Chaplin, "The Terminal" builds its laughs, sentiment and simplicity through its leading lovable character and its setting. This whole film practically takes place in and around an airport. Spielberg and his crackerjack team make the place not inhospitable but rather inviting in a way. The beauty of it is that Spielberg and Hanks contrive so many gags and so many laughs along the way that you'll forget you're watching the simple tale of a man whose new domicile is an airport.
Footnote: Fans of "The Royal Tenenbaums" will recognize the actor Kumar Pallana, who played Pagoda, Gene Hackman's partner in crime whom he had once stabbed. Pallana describes a similar stabbing in "The Terminal."
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