"The Terminal" (2004)

Victor Navorski, a tourist from the imaginary eastern European nation of Krakozia, has a problem. While he was in flight from Krakozia to New York City, there was a military coup in his homeland. All Krakozian travel rights have been suspended, so he cannot go back. And the USA has not yet recognized this new government, so he cannot come into US soil. Thus, he has fallen into a small crack in the system. Legally, he can only remain in the international terminal until something changes. He can only wait.

He remains in this state of limbo for approximately 10 months. 10 months in an airport. Yet he manages to learn some English, make friends with the employees, find love, and discover what is great about America, all without leaving the terminal. Life, as the tagline says, is waiting.

This story lands somewhere between a romantic comedy and a biographical drama. It is (very) loosely based on the plight of a man who was actually stuck in a Parisian airport for two months. A similar story in Canada ended tragically a few years after this movie was made. (That's right, this didn't happen in the USA. Please ignore the subtle, politically biased hints at the start of the movie that all immigration woes are the fault of the Department of Homeland Security, as reality does not reflect any such thing.) It is sweet and heartwarming for the most part, with occasional sharp corners of hard reality pointing through. Tom Hanks plays Victor majestically, even learning to speak Bulgarian (not Russian) for the part. The faults of Cathrine Zeta-Jones' character are faults of morality only; she plays the flawed character brilliantly.

All taken together, this is a beautiful, heart-warming movie of the American dream as experienced by a visitor. The characters are human but heroic, the set is immense, the plot flows nicely and avoids formula or cliche. I wholeheartedly recommend this movie to everyone. I thoroughly enjoyed it.