The Terminal : a review

The Terminal

The Terminal, directed by Steven Spielberg is a great watch no kidding. Who’d thought that one cold make a movie based on the premise of a man stuck in an airport terminal. Yet the man has managed to pull it off and with a great show to boot. Another interesting aspect to note is that the film is partially inspired by a real life airport resident, Mehran Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian refugee living in the Paris Charles De Gaulle airport. Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) is a national of Karkhosia at the time of entering New York’s JFK airport. Yet luck has it that his country would be embroiled in a civil war and thus he has become invalid, a man without a recognized nation. Thus due to immigration rules he cannot enter American soil though only a few feet separates him from New York and thus has to contend to spend his time in the Terminal. So what does one do when your flight is delayed indefinitely? Find a place to sleep, find lunch, get a job, get romantic, make friends and live life as usual. Put in Amelia Warren (Catherine Zeta-Jones) as the air stewardess love interest, mix in a motley crew of airport workers such as Enrique Cruz (Diego Luna), Gupta Rajan (Kumar Pallana) and Joe Mulroy (Chi McBride) and the movie will have you laughing on the floor soon enough. The best scene to watch out for; nope it’s not Hank the man but the honor goes to Gupta, catch his act near the end of the movie and you’ll know what I mean, it literally made me hold my breathe :) I figure among them Gupta is the most likable character and also the most funny of the lot. Some may say the plot is a bit bland but the pace is just nice as Hank plays his usual blur but lovable character ala Forest Gump. The Terminal soon turns into a microcosm of the real world and all thanks to Viktor. A light hearted movie, full of antics, escapades, laughs, love, confrontations, sentimentalism and drama. Rating 4/5.