Director:
Steven Spielberg
Starring:
Tom Hanks
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Stanley Tucci
Kumar Pallana
Chi McBride
Diego Luna
Release: 18 Jun. 04
IMDb
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The Terminal
BY: DAVID PERRY
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.
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