Terminal Falters Despite Spielberg and Hanks
The Terminal
Cast: Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley Tucci, Chi McBridge, Diego Luna
Director: Steven Spielberg
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The Terminal's team of actors, writers and director should have been unbeatable. Steven Spielberg remains one of cinema's top directors of all time and the voice of a generation. Tom Hanks collects Academy Awards like most people collect lint in their dryer trap. Writer Andrew Niccol had previously shown a flair for quirky originality in Gattaca and The Truman Show.
All try to recapture their past magic, but fail. Hanks channels Forest Gump in an airport and misses. Spielberg, on his way to direct the serious Munich, may have been distracted because The Terminal is more Batteries Not Included than Hook, which was also burdened with an all-star cast. Niccol, meanwhile, does capture the quirkiness, but Paul Mazursky, still going strong at almost 80 years old, beat him to the concept a generation earlier in 1984's Moscow on the Hudson.
Other issues mar The Terminal. Catherine Zeta-Jones, virtually unrecognizable, is bland and swallowed by most scenes. Unfortunately, the same can't be said of John Williams' bloated score that overwhelms most scenes. That is a very surprising development because Williams is to film scoring what Spielberg and Hanks are to the directing and acting elements of a film. The main theme evokes Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, an unfortunate choice, especially if deliberate.
Please Fasten Your Seatbelts
The Terminal is based on the true story of Viktor Navorski, a man trapped in Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport. The premise of an updated "man without a country" theme is solid. Spielberg and Niccol do a terrific job in capturing the affinity of the airport workers' private club. From baggage handlers to gate agents to food court attendants, wearing an airport identification badge silently enlists one into a secret extended family.
Perhaps no other director of this generation has sold implausible stories as well and as often as Spielberg, but he didn't make it through the plodding Terminal. He and Tom Hanks have worked together before including 2002's Catch Me If You Can (a fine book and worse movie) and a little classic called Saving Private Ryan. Spielberg is known as a director who can calm the presence of a huge star and not allow their fame to overshadow a story.
Without diminishing them, Spielberg has showcased Robin Williams, Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, notable scene stealers all. He usually manages the same with Hanks, who can play broad comedy or melt into an ensemble. Hanks is The Terminal, however, despite an excessively long two hours. Not even the romantic subplot involving Enrique Cruz (Luna, of Y Tu Mamá También) can take away from the fact that this is Hanks' show, for better or, in this instance, for worse. And the scenes with Frank Dixon (Tucci), the U.S. Customs agent who does his best to keep Navorski from entering the country, only remind one of Hanks' similarly obsessed FBI agent in Catch Me if You Can).
The major stars and director were all on their way to bigger projects while filming The Terminal. Spielberg not only had Munich on his horizon, but would soon after direct Tom Cruise in The War of the Worlds. Zeta-Jones was prepping for Ocean's Twelve with the Clooney-led group of actors who insist they are the Rat Pack reincarnated. Even Hanks was ready to star in The Polar Express, destined to be a holiday classic.
So we end up with a simple story of a man trapped in an airport and an excruciatingly long process to get him out. There is a sappy reason Hanks just doesn't board a plane back for his own or another country, but ultimately, the plot withers.
The Bottom Line, Popcorn Kernels and All
The Terminal is not awful. Had it been made by any group other than these Hollywood A-listers, one would call the film pleasant and perhaps watch a few moments when passing by the film on cable. With expectations built up from all this star power, however, The Terminal simply disappoints.
Five Things To Remember From This Review
1. This is Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' third collaboration.
2. Catherine Zeta-Jones looks lost throughout the entire film.
3. The Terminal is aptly named — its pacing is horrible.
4. Despite the star power, the film was shut out of every major awards show.
5. Based on a true story, but the fictional Moscow On The Hudson was better.
