Release Date:  June 18, 2004
Rating:  PG-13 (for brief language and drug references)
Genre:  Drama/Romance
Run Time: 129 minutes
Director:  Steven Spielberg
Actors:   Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley Tucci, Chi McBride, Diego Luna, Barry Shabaka Henley, Zoe Saldana, Eddie Jones,

Finally, a message of hope from the summer stew of sequels and special effects!

When Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) steps off the plane at JFK Airport in New York, he is detained at Immigration. While Viktor’s plane flew to the U.S., insurgents staged a coup in his homeland, the fictitious Eastern European nation of Krakozhia. The U.S. does not recognize the rebel government, so Viktor’s passport and currency are now  illegitimate.

Unfortunately, the chief Customs and Immigration officer, Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci), can’t send Viktor home, because no flights are going to the war-torn Krakozhia. Hoping that Viktor will enter the U.S. illegally, Dixon tells him “wait in the international lounge.” To his surprise, however, Viktor waits. As Dixon grows increasingly anxious and the fighting continues, nine months go by.

Meanwhile, the initially-skeptical staff of the international lounge warms up to Viktor, who wins their unanimous approval when he stands up to Dixon on behalf of another desperate passenger. Viktor also makes friends with Gupta (Kumar Pallana), an elderly Indian janitor who enjoys watching passengers slip on his wet floors after ignoring his yellow caution signs. Mulroy (Chi McBride), a baggage handler, invites Viktor to their nightly card games, where the men play for unclaimed luggage. Food service worker Enrique (Diego Luna) feeds Viktor, in exchange for him carrying romantic messages to an attractive immigration officer (Zoe Saldana), whom Viktor visits faithfully every day in the hopes that she will stamp his paperwork.

Somehow, Viktor manages to find ingenious sources of income (which Dixon systematically cuts off), as well as a deserted gate, which Viktor transforms into a room. He also conjures up some romance of his own, with a flighty flight attendant named Amelia Warren (Catherine Zeta-Jones). But time is passing, and Dixon is unyielding. With a huge promotion on the line, he needs Viktor out of the airport – at any cost.

Steven Spielberg is a master director, and though his films cross the spectrum of genres, remaining unpredictably unique, they are usually outstanding. “The Terminal” is no exception. Out of Spielberg’s wide repertoire, it resembles most his recent “Catch Me If You Can,” which also had airport scenes and fluctuated between comedy and drama. This film was also inspired by a real situation, that of Merhan Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian passenger who lost his documents in 1988 and slept on a red plastic bench at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Oddly enough, Nasseri, who has been the motivation for two other films (one French, one British), has been free to leave for years, but chooses not to. He is still at his airport in Paris.