The Terminal

Spielberg turns the sublime into the banal, at times taking it to the verge of ridiculous.

Lovely and well worth sharing with your family.

Hanks' overdone slapstick antics and awful accent ... keep this featherweight farce from taking flight.

So satisfied with its feel-good status, it seems oblivious to the bad casting decisions

Far less cuddly than expected, this unusual and elegant movie may have failed to connect with US audiences but it proves Spielberg is currently the most unpredictable director in Hollywood.

Hanks is a likeable actor but rarely a subtle one. Viktor is another cutesy emotional heart-tugger in the Forrest Gump mould, all galumphing slapstick.

What builds out from there is one man having an extraordinary effect on a group of people who never even knew he existed. Spielberg’s film deftly told a tale about the immediate prejudice towards immigrants.

While the performances are appealing, Spielberg relies too heavily on the airport-terminal-as-microcosm-of-society angle and the saccharine sentimentality gets piled on as the credibility decreases.

Although it is way too idealistic, The Terminal works because the characters’ idiosyncrasies are still relevant today. The script conveys that universal bond immigrants form between each other, given their social status in a foreign country.

... an impossibly romantic portrait of an immigration nightmare that becomes an irresistible fantasy thanks to the grace and compassion of Spielbergs direction.