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Director:
Steven Spielberg

Starring:
Tom Hanks
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Stanley Tucci
Kumar Pallana
Chi McBride
Diego Luna

Release: 18 Jun. 04
IMDb

The greatest representation of Hell could possibly be an eternity stuck in John F. Kennedy Airport. The cluster of stores, fast food joints, and first class lounges weigh upon you as you wait for a plane, part of the reason that I take LaGuardia when I have a chance. I cannot stand spending a mere half-hour in the place, and if there were a delay, I can imagine that I’d leave the airport to regain my senses.

The Terminal is no less debilitating. Its pandering personality formed by director Steven Spielberg admonishes the contrite humor that made Catch Me If You Can a reminder of the director’s easygoing side. The Terminal feels false because it never stops grasping for the sensation of being quick, aloof, and engaging without achieving that goal. The contrivance that gets the story rolling isn’t bad -- there have already been two European films based on the real story of a man stuck in Charles de Gaulle Aéroport -- it’s just that Spielberg is floundering as he attempts to make the whole thing heartwarming.

Part of the reason that Catch Me If You Can worked was that the charm of the scam was always fully present, making the saccharine of Spielberg’s collected works momentarily disappear. Here it’s front and center, with Tom Hanks primed as the type of ethnic everyman whose befuddled culture clash seems straight out of Robin Williams’ character closet. Look no further than the film’s third act explanation for Hanks’ arrival to remind why Spielberg’s technician status is unquestioned, but his storyteller is often derided. The excess baggage clipped onto this tale of a man caught between U.S. Customs and a war torn homeland takes a strong story and makes it an exercise in silliness.