Holds several small treasures and one crown jewel of a performance by Tom Hanks.
The Terminal (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:195
Fresh:118
Rotten:77
Average Rating:6.2/10
Consensus: Tom Hanks and the rest of the amiable cast make this bumpy ride worth sitting through.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for brief language and drug references
Runtime: 2 hrs 9 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Jun 18, 2004 Wide
Box Office: $77,032,279
Synopsis: Academy Award® winners Tom Hanks ("Philadelphia," "Forrest Gump") and Catherine Zeta-Jones ("Chicago") star in "The Terminal," under the direction of Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Steven... Academy Award® winners Tom Hanks ("Philadelphia," "Forrest Gump") and Catherine Zeta-Jones ("Chicago") star in "The Terminal," under the direction of Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg ("Schindler’s List," "Saving Private Ryan"). "The Terminal" tells the story of Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks), a visitor to New York from Eastern Europe, whose homeland erupts in a fiery coup while he is in the air en route to America. Stranded at Kennedy Airport with a passport from nowhere, he is unauthorized to actually enter the United States and must improvise his days and nights in the terminal’s international transit lounge until the war at home is over. As the weeks and months stretch on, Viktor finds the compressed universe of the terminal to be a richly complex world of absurdity, generosity, ambition, amusement, status, serendipity and even romance with a beautiful flight attendant named Amelia (Catherine Zeta-Jones). But Viktor has long worn out his welcome with airport official Frank Dixon, who considers him a bureaucratic glitch, a problem he cannot control but wants desperately to erase. "The Terminal" also stars Emmy winner Stanley Tucci (TV’s "Winchell," "Road to Perdition") as Frank Dixon. Rounding out the main cast are Chi McBride (TV’s "Boston Public"), Diego Luna ("Y Tu Mama, Tambien"), Barry "Shabaka" Henley ("Ali"), Kumar Pallana ("The Royal Tenenbaums"), Zoë Saldana ("Drumline"), Eddie Jones ("Seabiscuit") and Jude Ciccolella ("Down With Love"). Walter F. Parkes ("Catch Me If You Can"), Steven Spielberg and Laurie MacDonald ("The Ring") are producing "The Terminal," with Patricia Whitcher, Jason Hoffs and Andrew Niccol serving as executive producers. The screenplay is by Sacha Gervasi and Jeff Nathanson from a story by Niccol. [More]
Starring: Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley Tucci, Chi McBride
Starring: Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley Tucci, Chi McBride, Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Barry Shabaka Henley
Director: Steven Spielberg
Director: Steven Spielberg
Screenwriter: Sacha Gervasi, Jeff Nathanson
Producer: Steven Spielberg, Walter F. Parkes, Laurie MacDonald
Composer: John Williams
Studio: DreamWorks Distribution LLC
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Reviews for The Terminal
There are so many little details that give the movie its humor, its warmth, and its charm. It's full of unexpected surprises - every sentimental moment is perfectly placed.
This terminally bumpy mishmash of every bad contrivance ever made on film never takes flight.
To watch The Terminal is to be in one -- your plane delayed, your future on hold, your pass in hand and nothing to board.
The intriguing premise soon becomes a labored and contrived layover for the viewer.
As they land this fish-out-of-water story, Spielberg and Hanks have created a modern Catch-22 that moves you to laughter and then tugs your heart moments later.
Wobbles between plotlines and characters that make emotional sense and ones that don't remains passably entertaining, but doesn't bear much thinking about afterwards.
leaving you feeling like Viktor, stranded in nowheresville, able to make do while you have to, but looking forward to your ticket out.
Unavoidably funny and touching enough that we can ignore its weaknesses.
Within ten minutes, I was hooked; within thirty, I was rapt; by the last act, I knew that the hands of a master had played me like a piano. It's beautiful.
It's a recommendable movie if only for the flurry of solid laughs that come early and often, but that's about it.
Hanks' Navorsky character is compelling, we care about him, and we become interested in a situation most of us would stop at nothing to avoid.
What...makes it all worthwhile, is Hanks' performance, which consists of one part Chaplin.., one part Sid Caesar.., and one part Hanks' own personal warmth.
'The Terminal' is like a private jet that has had too much baggage...it looks sleek and beautiful on the outside but it is simply too loaded down to ever quite take off.
Airport-purgatory story from Spielberg and Hanks is a minor work from two master craftsmen.
Spielberg seems to be letting the audience know that he's not trying to be terribly serious this time, so just sit back and enjoy the show.
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