Reviewed by: Joe

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Produced by: Steven Spielberg, Walter F. Parkes, & Laurie MacDonald

Cast: Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chi McBride, Stanley Tucci, & Diego Luna

Drama and Comedy 2 hrs. 08 min. An immigrant (Hanks) fleeing the war that ravages his tiny Eastern European homeland finds himself stuck in the terminal of one of New York City's airports when the time of his landing coincides precisely with the point at which the war causes his nation of origin to no longer exist, meaning that his passport and paperwork are no longer valid. As a man without a home, he takes up residence in the terminal itself, befriending the staff of the airport, and falling in love with an airline flight attendant (Zeta-Jones).

the arrival of The Terminal signals not a new surge in the creativity of director Steven Spielberg but rather it announces blatantly that the world famous director may have finally been brought back down to the level of mediocre filmmakers after spending so much time at the top. The film suffers severely from a rather predictable and emotionally confused script that wraps up nearly all its loose ends but leaves its audience scratching their heads wondering how the conclusion they received came about.

The hard part is deciding what The Terminal actually is, a comedy or drama … there is enough evidence to support either side, and that is its problem. It’s great that Spielberg introduces some well induced humor into the rather lifeless storyline but sadly he bunches too many gags into one time period leaving the audience confused when the direction of the film takes on a more serious tone. This is not to say that jokes that used in the film don’t work well, they do, it’s just that there are too many of them that they end up outbalancing the film’s dramatic moments thus resulting in an uneven presentation. With both Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal coming off as less then impressive, especially compared to the superb work he’s most known for, this should be a wake up call to the director to get his head out of the clouds (namely off the concept of airplanes) and back to the sci-fi and fantasy genres he works best with.