Great Film: The Terminal
Hanks and Spielberg do it again-another winner!
I've seen some really good movies in 2004 but so far, this maybe the
best. The Terminal is an incredible fairy tale of a movie-it's quietly
captivating, rich in interesting colorful characters and superbly acted
and directed.
Tom Hanks as Victor Navorsky is quite simply entrancing to watch. He is
an amazing character actor and in The Terminal he again creates a
character who is instantly embraceable. You care about Victor and want
things to turn out OK for him as much as his friends in the Terminal
do.
This is a movie that actually got some bad reviews and I'm baffled by
why. Although, I usually can see flaws in even the movies I think are
8's and 9's there isn't much to be critical of here. Some people have
said it's to "feel good". That it's lacking in reality. I don't
necessarily see those as negatives, there are many good movies that are
feel good or unrealistic, just as there are some bad ones. The Terminal
has a lot that's likable about it.
Firstly, there's Hanks himself and I will admit if any other actor had
played Victor it might not be the movie it is, Hanks is simply amazing,
you forget who he is within the first five minutes. I won't mention
everyone by name, but the rich array of supporting actors/actresses
were all good as well. It is an unusual movie that really isn't either
a straight comedy OR a straight drama-it perhaps falls through the
cracks of genres but I'd call this mostly a heartwarming and completely
absorbing character study of one man's attempt to make a life for
himself in an airport terminal. It's a very different type of movie-for
all the strategically placed product adds, there's something quietly
uncommercial about Terminal and watching it is an interesting
experience.
The movie is about 2 hours and you get a lot in those two hours. For me
what was striking was how genuinely interesting this movie turned out
to be. I'm one who finds airport terminals fascinating anyway-all the
hundreds of and thousands of people rushing about to hop on a plane and
start some new adventure....but to actually live in a terminal-an
interesting (and rather strange) concept-Hanks acting here is quiet and
understated and at a level surpassing merely "talented". He manages to
make nibbling a cracker fascinating. I would give this a 10 of 10 and
know there are many who may think it's not for them but I found this
movie to be a beautiful fairytale of a picture and hope at least Hanks
gets an Oscar nod. I also hope that skeptics give this movie a
chance-as good a movie as any Hanks film I've ever seen. 10 of 10.
Cast
- Mulroy played by Chi Mcbride
- Viktor Navorski played by Tom Hanks
- Thurman played by Barry Shabaka Henley
- Torres played by Zoe Saldana
- Amelia Warren played by Catherine Zeta-jones
- Frank Dixon played by Stanley Tucci
- Nadia played by Rini Bell
