The Terminal
Reviewed by Sarah Downing

In Steven Spielberg's latest movie, Tom Hanks plays Viktor Navorski, an Eastern European man stranded at JFK Airport when his home country explodes in a fierce coup.

When receiving this information on his arrival in New York, Viktor is told that he is technically inexistent as he no longer has a country. Therefore, he is ineligible for entry into the United States but also unable to return home. All he can do is sit and wait for the war to be over.

However, Viktor's waiting time is extended far longer than anyone initially anticipates and he is forced to live in the Airport terminal for 9 long months.

Although the Airport at first seems strange and lonely to a man who barely speaks English, Viktor quickly adopts various survival methods and catches the attention of a number of generous employees who take him under their wing.

As the weeks and months pass by Viktor discovers that friendship and even love, in the form of a beautiful Air Stewardess (Catherine Zeta Jones), can be found in the strangest of places.

Overall, The Terminal is a wonderful feel good movie. Spielberg takes a rather unbelievable story and presents it in a way that helps the audience suspend all senses of belief and enjoy it for what it is; a romantic fairytale.

Using various aspects of drama and comedy the film excels in creating a number of emotional highs and lows that keeps the viewer captivated throughout.

Its only downside is the running time. At 129 minutes, it's just 20 minutes too long and could have easily ended satisfyingly at an earlier significant moment. All in all though, with no other disappointments this is a thoroughly enjoyable movie that will successfully please a wide audience.