A man is left an orphan in an airport, his country no longer exists, it is under a coup and while it is, this man is a citizen of nowhere. So is the simple story of Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) a man from the fictional country of Krakozhia, and so begins one of the most positive and optimistic films to come out in a post 9/11 world.
I think it's important to state when "The Terminal" was made which might explain the motives behind making it. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and on paper I assumed it was an ideal film for him to make at that time. Spielberg came into the new millennium a much different director than he was before. His first two films of the new century were bleak dystopian science fiction films ("A.I.", and "Minority Report".) both brilliant but darker than anything Spielberg had ever done. He then followed those up with an entertaining caper film "Catch Me if You Can", and then came this film.
"The Terminal" came with not much of a critical or audience reception, it was maligned and used as an example of everything wrong about Spielberg (over sentimentality overridden with movie cliches). He silenced those critics with another dark science fiction film ("War of the Worlds") and then a more serious film regarding terrorism ("Munich"), any one of those films are good arguments for Spielberg's best of the decade, but more than any of them I go back to "The Terminal".
I think "The Terminal" is the only kind of response Spielberg could make in a post 9/11 world. In a time when people could be excused for being more bitter and cynical, Spielberg focuses on hope and humanity.
Viktor is one of Spielberg's many orphan characters, he not only doesn't have a family, but he doesn't even have a country to call his own. Over a series of months (Not sure how long he actually stays there), the airport terminal becomes his home. Spielberg sets his film in a very real looking airport terminal, but the story that unfolds is very much a fable, Spielberg has always relied on this form to tell his stories. Viktor soon finds friends in other people who work at the airport, he helps them with their problems, but he's also a thorn in the side of the local supervisor (Stanley Tucci) who wants nothing more than to be rid of him for good.
Soon a romance blooms between Viktor and a flight attendant (Catherine Zeta-Jones who has never looked lovelier) who has commitment issues. All the while Viktor is waiting patiently for permission to step foot on American soil all for a promise he kept for his father (a theme found in many Spielberg films)
"The Terminal" is the kind of film that is easy to take apart from the outside, it's glossy, unrealistic, and full of corny moments. I confess if you look at films with those aspects in mind, you will not enjoy it. Hollywood has been responsible for many films that fall under this category of being corny and more times than none, they have failed, but Spielberg is a modern master at this sort of film, he knows how to take you into a film and feel for its characters. His films are full of many sentimental moments, but I think the difference is he is also insightful with these moments as well. Not since Chaplin or Capra has a director had the power to pull your emotions like Spielberg, the thing about him is he's sincere.
There are moments in "The Terminal" such as Viktor trying to stop airport security from taking an immigrants medication away for his dying father, or the old Indian janitor who goes out on the runway to delay Viktor's plane that could've failed if done without sincerity, but Spielberg does these scenes with a straight face, to him they are not silly, but they demonstrate the message he's trying to make with this movie.
"The Terminal" can be thought of as a fable about waiting, and hoping for what tomorrow may bring, I think it's a film about friendship, and helping one another in a time of crisis, in the end Viktor has made friends with so many people at the airport, they have inspired him and he has inspired them back, I think Spielberg has actually made his "It's a Wonderful Life".
I think "The Terminal" came at a strange time for America, it might not have been the film people were looking for, but I do hope much like "It's a Wonderful Life" it is rediscovered by a new generation. It's a film that grows on you and gets better everytime you view it, it's emotionally uplifting and insightful, and sometimes that's all you ask from a movie.
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