The premise for "The Terminal" sounds like as much fun as, well, spending two-hours-plus in an airport terminal.
Of course, that's precisely what this film is. But, fortunately, the filmmakers have treated it with a really light touch and a fairly low-key approach, which only adds to an overabundance of charm, making it all quite enjoyable.
This comedy seems to indicate that an interesting career progression is going on with veteran director Steven Spielberg, who, with this film and 2002's "Catch Me If You Can," has been re-emphasizing story and character over action. (Which is not to say he hasn't done that previously, but these recent works have been surprisingly character-driven, even by his standards.)
Here, he again re-teams with Tom Hanks, who stars as Viktor Navorski, a man visiting New York City from the fictional Eastern European republic of Krakozhia. At least he's hoping to visit New York. While his plane was in the air, a coup occurred in his homeland, and now he finds himself a man without a country.
Diplomatic snags prevent him from returning to Krakozhia, but he's not free to enter the United States either. In fact, overzealous airport administrator Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci) is doing everything he can to keep Viktor confined to the airport's international transit lounge.
However, the resourceful Viktor does find ways to get food and shelter in the terminal and even befriends several employees (Diego Luna, Chi McBride and Kumar Pallana). Then there's his obvious attraction to Amelia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a flight attendant trapped in a go-nowhere relationship with a married man.
The premise may seem a bit far-fetched, but the screenwriters did base some of it on real-life events. However, they've also added some pretty fantastic elements, which Spielberg is more than willing to exploit.
Hanks' accent isn't the most convincing, but he makes us believe in his character. Would that he could sell us on the romantic subplot with Zeta-Jones, which is clearly the weakest element of the story.
Spielberg and the screenwriters might have been better off investing more time in the motley crew of supporting characters, all of whom put in bids to steal the show (and Wes Anderson movie regular Pallana nearly succeeds).
"The Terminal" is rated PG-13 for scattered use of strong profanity, drug content (possession of narcotics, marijuana and prescription drugs), scenes of war violence (seen on television) and some brief crude humor. Running time: 128 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com