The Terminal

Over the weekend, while our little one was being watched by my mother-in-law, my wife and I watched "The Terminal", a drama laced with comedy and romance. Starring Tom Hanks, with Chi McBride (Boston Public) and Catherine Zeta-Jones in supporting roles, is the latest release from Dreamworks SKG and Steven Spielberg.
Set in New York's JFK Airport, The Terminal follows the life of one Victor Nagorski, a traveler from Krakozhia, a fictional slavic republic with a language similar to russian. While he is in the air, there is a coup and civil war in his country. All travel privileges and passports are suspended, and the US revokes Nagorski's visa based on this. He is unable to return to his country, and unable to enter US soil.

He is not eligible for asylum, and is stuck roaming the halls of the "International Transit area" of JFK airport indefinitely. While it seems like that might make for a boring storyline, Hanks' portrayal of a traveler with little knowledge of English makes the movie work. It all starts on a promise -- one that takes half the movie to learn what the promise is -- and that Nagorski is trying to fulfill it.
We see Nagorski wait in line, day after day, only to have his admission application to the US denied each time. There is romance in the film, in the form of a bitch played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Her character is the "other woman" in a relationship, yet she keeps going back to him. She takes to Nagorski, but can't commit. There's an attraction, but they never develop this out other than her going back to the married boyfriend to try and help Nagorski keep his promise.
The head of Customs loses his temper more than once dealing with Nagorski, as he is up for a higher post after 17 years on the job. The pressure gets to him, even in front of the review board. He does everything possible to try and get Nagorski to leave the airport, in the hope that he would be someone else's problem, but Nagorski won't leave. Nagorski learns capitalism and English, self-taught, in the course of the film.
He makes friends among the airport staff, who in turn help him to survive. He finds a space to crash in Gate 67, which is under renovation. After being denied a job in every airport shop, he rebuilds a wall in the renovation area, and gets noticed by the construction foreman the next morning, and is hired under the table. It takes nine months for the power struggle in Krakozhia to work itself out, giving Victor the chance to go home. At first, he is blackmailed by the Customs head into leaving, into returning home.
His airport friends come to his aid, delaying his plane again, and giving him a chance to fulfill his promise. "The Terminal" gets 3 1/2 out of 4 stars on a relantel scale. It is fast-paced, as you hardly notice that two hours have passed by. Now if only the Theatre would stop airing 10 minutes of commercials, followed by 15 minutes of previews, so that the film itself started 25 minutes late... (Note to self -- avoid a city that only has one theatre owner, in this case Carmike)