Movie Reviews
Steven Spielberg has established himself as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. If you look at his history, he has so many classic films that it’s hard to comprehend only one man made them all. But it is not just because he has so many classics that he is a great director. He’s a great director because he makes things happen, and happen so naturally that it looks as if the characters and props are moving, talking, performing by their own will. He’s just amazing.
Tom Hanks too has become one of Hollywood’s leading men. From “Forrest Gump” to “The Green Mile”, he has made us laugh and broken our hearts. Hanks is the winner of two back-to-back Academy Awards for Best Actor. He’s one of the most real feeling actors that you’ll find on screen, and he’s one of the greatest actors of my generation.
Since about “Schindler’s List”, these next three men have worked on every Spielberg film. Editor Michael Kahn and composer John Williams have worked on almost every film he’s ever made. Director of Photography Juanez Kiminski is the master behind the angles and camera moves that make the movie great. All of these men are exceptional at what they do, and they all do it together. That is simply why Steven Spielberg films are so good. “The Terminal” is a Steven Spielberg film.
This is a good story, but nothing over the top of anything that movies have had before. The reason it’s so good is that everything was taken into context and every angle was covered. They made sure this film was original and it is. It tells the fictional story of Viktor Navorski, an Eastern European native whose country experience a coup literally while he was in flight. So now, without a country, he doesn’t have a visa, and without a visa, he doesn’t have a ticket into the United States and is forced to stay in the terminal of JKF Airport until tensions let up in his country.
It’s not very likely (although it’s happened) that something like this would take place. But it’s a tale told with such a grace and decency. I loved this film...every minute of it. This film works on so many levels: you could say it’s a drama, but that’s leaving out the majority of very funny parts. You could say it’s just a comedy, but you’d be leaving out all the romance. Okay, fine let’s just call it a romantic dramedy.
Reasons for this film being great are ceaseless. It is extremely well-paced and never boring. It’s heart-warming and good-natured. It’s just a wonderful, wonderful film. I look at the agenda for summer, and almost all I see is action, action, action. And while that may not be a bad thing, summer needs a mellowing out, and this is the film to do it. In a world of films that pollutes the air by glorifying gratuitous violence, bad language, and promiscuous sex, “The Terminal” is a breath of fresh air. ****