subject: Tom Hanks Charms Audiences In The Terminal [print this page] In 2004's "The Terminal," directed by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks plays Viktor Navorski, who hasn't spent much time on airplanes but is getting to know JFK Airport extremely well.
Viktor is stuck. As a citizen of a country at war - a country that, for the moment, doesn't technically exist - he is unable to enter New York. But he can't go home either, so this gentle foreigner takes up residence in the airport, gradually coming up with clever ways to earn money to pay for meals and learning English so he can communicate more effectively.
It isn't long before he's made a few friends, including cranky elderly custodian Gupta Rajan (Kumar Pallana) and lovestruck Trekkie Enrique Cruz (Diego Luna), who's fallen for Dolores Torres (Zoe Saldana), the woman whose job requires her to tell Viktor again and again that he cannot leave the airport and venture out into the city. While he does his best to facilitate a romance between these two, Viktor has eyes for someone as well.
Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Amelia Warren, a beautiful stewardess whose job puts her in the path of a lot of jet-setting men, few of whom stick around very long. She is enchanted by Viktor's humble attempts to woo her, but can two people who are so very different really make a go of it - especially when one is always flying and the other seems destined to never leave the ground again? Let's say that Viktor won't be racking up too many frequent flyer points in the near future!
Complicating Viktor's life is airport bigwig Frank Dixon, magnificently portrayed by Stanley Tucci. This is a man who wants to get ahead, and he sees Viktor as an inconvenience who poses a threat to his impending promotion. Though even his closest associates - especially hangdog lackey Thurman (Barry Shabaka Henley) - warm to Viktor, Frank continues to antagonize him, with results that are both comical and frustrating. While he is clearly a spiteful character, it's also easy to feel some sympathy for Frank as so many things seem to go wrong in his life.
Although it is rated PG-13, there are only the briefest bits of language, and the two courtships we see are old-fashioned and chaste. This is a movie that is entirely appropriate for the whole family. Although it's never been hailed as one of the high points in the stellar careers of either Spielberg or Hanks, "The Terminal" is a gem not to be missed.
