The Terminal (2004) Review

https://youtu.be/iZqQRmhRvyg?is=q2jYealBk2wCWUsL

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

It is not easy to start over in unfamiliar territory because you don’t know what to expect until after. Sometimes, more good can come from whatever bad. 


PLOT


2004’s The Terminal follows an Eastern European named Viktor Narvoski arrives in New York for pleasure only to find out his country of Krakhozia has gone through a coup d’état during his flight. With the United States not recognizing his new government, his passport is invalid and he cannot go home nor explore outside the airport. This leaves him stranded with his luggage and a peanut can of his possession after being given food vouchers & a pager by Customs/Border Protection Acting Field Commissioner Frank Dixon and Customs/Border Protection Officer Judge Thurman. With no access to hotels, Viktor would stay in a gate under renovation on his first night. When Dixon notices he hasn’t left yet even though he told him to stay, he tries to tempt him to leave the airport by ordering guards away, only for him to not fall for it. Not even does he want to claim asylum since he’s not afraid to go back home should he be allowed. As he continues to stay, he would scavenge change to feed himself until Dixon assigns a liaison to prevent him from doing so, trying to force him to leave. As he also betters his English by reading guidebooks, he starts befriending employees that work within the airport. The first of which is food service truck driver Enrique Cruz who offers him free meals in exchange of helping him win over immigration officer Dolores Torres. He’d also communicate with the likes of grumpy janitor Gupta Rajan and baggage handler Joe Mulroy who bets lost luggage in poker, he also befriends flight attendant Amelia Warren, fresh off a breakup who doesn’t know of his predicament. He is then able to score a job working with airport contractors who mistake him to be an employee. One day, Dixon is able to get his help communicating to a Russian man delivering medications for his ill father, helping him circumvent the issue to avoid a paperwork technicality. Because of being humiliated on how the foreigner chose to be more helpful than necessary, he threatens to make sure he doesn’t enter the US. But because his superiors saw the ordeal, they would be disappointed of his attitude. With the help of his friends does he have a date with Amelia and he tries telling her he’s been living in the airport, but she doesn’t believe him. And after this does he set up Dolores with Enrique; They would get along so well that it would lead to them getting married. That same day of the wedding, Dixon does tell Amelia that Viktor hasn’t been completely truthful. When she confronts him about it, he shows her the custom water fountain he made in dedication to her and explains his intent in NY is to fulfill his father’s dying wish to collect the autograph of jazz musician Benny Golson. Moved of this story does she kiss him for the first time. After nine months does the war on Krakozhia end and she gives him an emergency visa she got from her married boyfriend that she’s rekindled being with, still wanting to help him fulfill his dream. Viktor does show the visa to Dixon, but he refuses to sign it. As he threatens to prosecute everyone for their illegal activities, including Gupta who is charged in India for assaulting an officer, Narvoski agrees to take the flight home. Wanting him to fulfill his dream as well, Gupta runs in front of the plane and gets himself arrested anyway. Moved of this does Viktor leave the airport and take advantage of the delay to meet Golson for his autograph. Dixon almost pursues him after officers choose to let him leave, but he instead gives up and shifts his focus on incoming travelers. Viktor does get Golson’s autograph after finding the hotel he was staying at and nods goodbye to Amelia in advance. Rather than further explore the city does the film end with Viktor returning home after fulfilling his promise. 


THOUGHTS


It’s honestly impressive when a filmmaker chooses to step away from exhilaration to slow things down and make a new form of special. Steven Spielberg is one of those guys given he is the godfather of blockbusters and seeing a simple yet bizarre story of one finding home in an unusual location comes to show you can really find beauty out of anything. Through an elegant John Williams score and impressive cinematography by Janusz Kamiński to show how much life and community there really is in an airport, you’re immediately gonna adore Tom Hanks’ lead performance as Viktor. Even though he is not prepared for the changes his country puts him through, he is able to improvise in taking life with stride because complaining ain’t gonna get him anywhere. Little by little, seeing him win over everyone who works there to the point of being a big part of their lives is just too damn sweet. He definitely is if he is able to be a fluent matchmaking messenger for the earnest Enrique to score with the diligent Dolores, played by Diego Luna & Zoe Saldana respectively. It really comes to show believing in yourself goes a long way. I enjoyed how Chi McBride was so chill as Joe since he was least bothered when Viktor begins his stay, but I became more moved towards Kumar Pallana as Gupta because seeing him go from a grouch to later profound loyalty was beautiful to unfold. The fact he was willing to go to jail to help his new friend fulfill his dream really brings the movie full circle that compassion and integrity goes a long way apart from kindness. As long as you stick to your goals without breaking your morals, then things will go your way when the journey is over. Viktor doesn’t have any specific agenda upon landing in NY. He just wanted to meet someone his dad admired and the fact he still got to get Barry Golson’s autograph after a lengthy delay made everything he went through worth it, thus returning home as soon as he did. When it comes down to it, there were two specific people he affected most for the better. Stanley Tucci was a very bitter man as Dixon because he just wanted work to be easier until his promotion and just didn’t want to put up with the burden he saw Viktor. He wasn’t really prejudiced towards him, but he was rude treating him like a hassle to the point everyone would be against him going forward, as a result of being too strict for his own good. By the time Viktor goes out the door however, he gave up the animosity and accepted he was never worth to treat as such. By the time he went back, he probably didn’t even care to notice because he had new problems to tend to. Hell, even Judge took a step back before him because Barry Shabaka Henley too showed there is a limit to loyalty for the job ever since he had to observe Viktor. Had he not let Viktor go, it’s hard to know if Dixon would ever change but we’re still glad he did anyway. Last but not least, Catherine Zeta Jones brought the right spark as Amelia because she is someone who was living in impulsiveness given her relationship status, but does deeply want something more grounded. Viktor does like that about her, but she likes her back because she admires he’s the first guy in a while to be genuine respect which he proved when protecting her from falling on a wet floor. She does the right thing securing the visa, but she keeps things the way they were when meeting her because she’s too comfortable about it. This might break Viktor’s heart, but he won’t dwell on it because he knows better than anyone life is too short to do so. Now that he gets to go home, I’m sure he’ll still remember her and everyone else for all the good they gave to each other vice versa. In short, The Terminal succeeds in being constantly heartwarming and then some. If you want something that makes you feel good, this one will do it for you.