The Terminal

PRIYANKA HALDIPUR


English (Plaza)
Cast: Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta -Jones, Stanley Tucci, Chi McBride, Kumar Pallana, Diego Luca
Director: Steven Spielberg

You often hear frequent flyers complaining about “living out of a suitcase”, and how the airport has turned into their “second home”. But, someone has actually been residing in the airport for nine months!

The Terminal is a comedy-drama, based on the real-life account of Merhan Nasseri, an Irani refugee who was stranded at the Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris for a long time. However, in the film, the character is “Viktor Navorski” (played by Hanks) from “Krakozhia”. Navorski’s only fault is that he is from a distant land that has recently had a new political leadership.

The US government no longer recognises his country and revokes his visa that allows him to set foot in NYC. Navorski has not much left to do, but wander around the JFK airport till matters are sorted out. This non-English speaking eastern immigrant is one toughie endowed with extraordinary survival skills. Apart from finding himself temporary employment, he befriends food cart driver Enrique Cruz (Luca), floor cleaner Gupta Rajan (Pallana) and security officer Joe Mulroy (McBride), who fill his solitary existence with a laugh or two.

Navorski has one enemy though. Field Commissioner Frank Dixon (Tucci) can’t get used to the fact that this happy-go-lucky “citizen from nowhere” is managing well on his own.

Dixon tries every trick in the book to make Navorski step out of the airport, into the city so that he violates the law and becomes someone else’s problem. But Navorski is no fool. A fool in love maybe, because this survivor has fallen for flight attendant Amelia Warren (Zeta-Jones) who has enough heartache of her own.

Dixon leaves no stone unturned by poisoning Amelia’s mind about Navorski. The movie progresses in a way that you don’t quite expect. It was fortunate that Bernie Mac who was asked to play “Navorski” earlier, had to pull out of the film due to a busy schedule. Hanks, as the lost immigrant, is adorable. He makes it very easy to forget his real identity, and all you want to do is hug him and tell him everything is going to be alright.

Zeta-Jones is sweet, as a dreamy-eyed girl. Tucci successfully plays the mean man. Spielberg’s name immediately brings to mind, images of spaced-out green creatures, extinct giant reptiles and mechanical geniuses. The Terminal, somehow, inspires the feel-good factor that a Catch Me If You Can or even a Shrek could bring out. And, who isn’t a fan of that.

The Terminal comes as a welcome change for those who have been waiting for a movie that can boast of humour, drama and worthwhile histrionics.