It’s interesting to see a movie that is now almost 20 years old tell a story that feels like it could happen today. There are some movies that age very poorly and others which, while they certainly haven’t aged well, are now telling a story that had different implications for who we are in our country and how we treat those who come here, for whatever reason.
The Terminal came out in 2004. It is inspired by a real story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian refugee who spent nearly 20 years living in a French Airport due to losing his travel documents. Because of his troubled status in Iran, he was without a country and therefore unable to obtain proper documents to continue his travel journey. This tale is only stranger because of how long it took for action to finally change something. Just to put the event into perspective, this movie came out in 2004, Nasseri left the airport in 2006… meaning he was still living there when this movie premiered.
But, watching this movie now in 2022 it is clear that it speaks to a larger problem, especially here in the United States. We claim to be this great nation of immigrants, a melting pot of culture, but since the 80s we have been taking fewer and fewer refugees into the United States. In 1980 the U.S. took in over 207,000 refugees, 40 years later in 2020 it was less than 12,000.
Now that means we took in .0012% of all refugees in the world, of which the total is over 100 million. And while it is obvious that we cannot house everyone fleeing their homelands for security and necessity, it does show that the idea of America as this great nation of diversity, is a lie, and we are more concerned with a false sense of security than actually helping those in need.
All of what I have said shows up in The Terminal. Victor (Tom Hanks) is forced to reside in an airport for nearly a year because he cannot go to the U.S. and he cannot return home. And the head of Homeland Security for the Airport, Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci) doesn’t try to accommodate him in any way, and actively tries to push the problem off to someone else, not only that but he also uses Victor for his own gains when it is convenient. And if you haven’t figured out what I’m saying, Dixon is the U.S. and Victor is refugees everywhere.
The story of The Terminal tries to tell is a feel-good movie of the inspirational power of one person, but what it actually tells is a story of a failing system and how the group that actually helps solve a major crisis in a compassionate way, is a people coming together, and fighting against the oppressions of broken systems. We need to do better if we want to keep calling ourselves a nation of immigrants and actually mean it.
So, let’s break everything down.
All Spielberg movies will be judged based on the same five pieces of criteria.
Acting – Are the performances good and do they serve the story or are they distracting and awkward?
Story and Dialogue – Does the story being told make sense and is the use of dialogue allow it to succeed or does the story struggle and/or the dialogue drag it down
Shooting and Editing – How is the camera used, how are the shots arranged, what other elements are used to enhance the movie?
Design – How does the movie look? Does it help the movie or hurt the movie?
Iconic Moment – Spielberg has made several big iconic moments throughout cinema, what are they, how many of them are there, and which ones stand out the most?
All these criteria will be judged on a score of 10 for a total score of 50.
So here is my breakdown of The Terminal:
Acting – Tom Hanks really tries but this is just not his role. He’s not bad but you can tell he’s not in his element as Victor and the work really hinders the character over all. The supporting cast however is fantastic. All of them play fun and interesting characters and make the whole world come to life. It’s not perfect, but it is overall good. (8/10)
Story and Dialogue – The biggest issue with this story is it’s a little disjointed and not sure what it needs or wants to say. It’s one part romantic drama, another part farcical comedy, and a third part political and social drama. And that all means that there is some clumsiness in the storytelling. (6/10)
Shooting and Editing – The shooting and editing on this one are nothing to write home about but it also isn’t terrible in any way either. So it just winds up being a part of it that is fairly forgettable. (7/10)
Design – They wanted a real airport and didn’t get one… and so they built an entire terminal… which makes this just all the more impressive because that looks like a friggin airport terminal! It’s incredible. And the whole movie works better because of it. (8/10)
Iconic Moment – There is a really incredible moment at the end when Victor leaves the airport. It’s a really hopeful moment and to see how each obstacle becomes a support is really really inspiring. I think it can’t hold up to many of the other Spielberg movies but it definitely tries. (5/10)
Total Score: 34/50
Current Ranking:
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Jurassic Park
Saving Private Ryan
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Schindler’s List
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Minority Report
Jaws
Catch Me If You Can
Hook
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Amistad
Duel
Empire of the Sun
The Terminal
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
The Color Purple
Twilight Zone: The Movie
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
The Sugarland Express
1941
Always
It’s about time we get back to really out of this world sci-fi, wouldn’t you say? I think that is well deserved, and very few people do aliens like Spielberg. So come back next week as we return to stories about aliens and really look at a less benevolent interaction.
So until then, thanks for taking the time to get Ploominated!
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