The Terminal

Tom Hanks’ third film for director Steven Spielberg is just as breezy and marshmallow-soft as last year’s Catch Me If You Can. Viktor Navorski (Hanks) arrives at John F. Kennedy International Airport from the fictitious country of Krakozhia, a Slavic neighbor to Russia, just as a violent coup erupts in his homeland. American officials no longer recognize the country as a sovereign state and yank Viktor’s visa and passport. For the next nine months, he literally camps out in the international-transit lounge of the airport with his freedom snarled in bureaucratic red tape. This shallow but lighthearted, entertaining fable about compassion vs. blind regulation is point-blank Frank Capra (one common man can make a difference in this world) supported by a revolving panorama of colorful, Damon Runyon-esque characters.