Review of The Terminal (2004) by Marc5477 — 20 Feb 2016

What a fun film! I think this is one of Tom Hanks best performances. Its almost a throw back to 80's style sappy films but it does not go overboard. The character development was superb and even though some of the characters were not believable, they remained memorable such as the security staff and the port administrator.

This movie is about a guy from a fictitious country who gets lost in the paperwork because his country ceased to exist while he was in flight. The shenanigans begin when his passport is rejected by US customs and the administrator of the terminal fails to communicate with him due to language barriers. From here everything goes haywire. The administrator cant get rid of Mr. Navorski (Tom Hanks) and and Mr. Navorski cant speak English and cant find anyone to help him translate what he sees on the TV (about the war in his country). Since his passport is not valid he cannot enter the USA and the airport authorities have no where to send him since his country no longer has any flights going to it. So what does he do? He starts learning English by comparing two travel guides, one in his language and one in English (recall this is pre-cell phone days). Along the way, he finds ways to make money so he no longer has to eat crackers with ketchup, lands a job, befriends a crazy Indian, goes on a date with a stewardess, helps a baggage handler meet and marry the girl of his dreams, helps people around the terminal in various ways, and eventually confronts the terminal authority that had him trapped (with the help of his new found friends).

Its not supposed to be believable any more than Big was believable, and there are plot holes a plenty but it is a fun movie and was never meant to be taken very seriously. I highly recommend this movie.