Talk about "The Terminal" here:
Review by: Breanne Derby
Plot Summary
Tom Hanks changed from his regular, all-American image, to play Victor Navorski, a confused man from a war-torn country in Eastern Europe who was stranded at JFK airport in New York because his home country was at war, and the United States would no longer accept his visa as being valid; in the words of the Security Manager, Frank Dixon (played by Stanley Tucci), "America is closed." Navorski did not qualify for any kind of governmental support, and Dixon was trying to get rid of him so that he would become "someone else's problem". He was left to fend for his own, speaking little English and in extreme culture shock.
Review
I was quite pleased with the quality of this movie. Hanks did an incredible job portraying Navorski, and I was thoroughly impressed by his Russian accent. The problem itself seemed somewhat like something the government would do: push around a poor foreigner who has just lost his country to civil war, and make him wait for months before accepting his visa as valid and allowing him any kind of travel, whether into America, or home to his war-torn country. I was surprised at how quickly he picked up the English language, and imagine that it certainly would have taken longer in reality, but movies are movies, and things like the length of time it takes to learn a new language when completely surrounded by it become trivial.
It took some time for the plot of the story to be established, but I suppose all movies are like that; if you go into it knowing the exact plot, what's the point of sitting through two hours of film? I thought, at first, that it was only going to be about life at the terminal, and I didn't really see it going anywhere, but it warmed up and became quite entertaining, as I'm sure everyone was wondering why Victor really did come to America, and everyone felt sympathy for Hanks' foreign portrayal of a man of incredible talent and dignity, trying to survive in the hectic world of the airport, and making his home in an abandoned and rundown gate.
I found all of the problems that took place at JFK Airport to be very entertaining, and the JFK staff was a lovable crew of foreigners and Americans alike, just trying to live their lives. Victor Navorski was a character of impeccable faith and patience. When given the chance to leave the airport by Security, he looked at the camera which was following him around, and said "I will wait," and wait he did, Victor Navorski would not become "someone else's problem."
Often in the movie, Victor was watched by Dixon on security cameras, and really, all of the security staff was watching him by camera. This part of the movie strongly reminded me of "The Truman Show"; Dixon was watched Victor's his every move much like Christof watched Truman's, and Airport Security Guards saw Victor with an air of sympathy, just like the public viewers adored Truman. The resemblance was uncanny for two movies of such difference, though both men are trying to escape into "the world".
Conclusion
Though some of the jokes in this movie were corny, and used only to get a cheap laugh (which, to be honest, they did get out of me); it was still incredible, and I would definitely watch it again with my friends and family, as I think they would also enjoy it. This movie was superb, the acting was unquestionably the best I've seen from movies in a while, and the storyline actually had me forget some of my skeptical habits and get into the movie, and it was a very good movie to get into. This is undoubtedly one of the better movies that's come out of Hollywood lately (they seem to be running out of good ideas and just keep making comic-books into movies and sequels to old box-office hits over and over again), and I give it 4 out of 5 stars because it was just that good.
