The Terminal

[Find Your Magali]

Well, I think I'll have to admit that I was wrong many moons ago when I criticized the concept for this film as unviable. I made the incorrect assumption that, because of the plot, Spielberg would be making a drama. But it appears he's gone the sugar-coated comedy route, instead, and hit paydirt with Hanks. And I guess that works just fine, because there's no need to have heavy-handed messages in your movie if you have Hanks walking into windows and Zeta-Jones slipping on wet floors.

[Alethia]

oh dont be like that, at least wait until you've seen the movie

[Find Your Magali]

I'm not "being like that." ... I'm saying that I had legitimate concerns about this movie as a realistic drama. But it seems, from trailer, that the film has taken a lighter, comedic approach, and if that's the case, I'm SURE that Spielberg and Hanks have put together a very entertaining film that will have plenty of laughs and just the right amount of tear-jerking moments. It was a compliment. I was worried about the tone, and it looks like they found the most viable tone for the picture.

[Alethia]

ahh, well good then  

[modage]

thats a hell of a good review....hope the film lives up to it

it doesnt.  so i advise everyone whose hopes were raised by that glowing review to reign them back down to earth.  from the initial word of the film i wasnt very excited about the premise, but being as it was spielberg i was interested   nonetheless.  i thought the trailer was pretty good and then with that review on top i thought he could still pull something incredible out of it.  

i saw the terminal tonite and it was very enjoyable.  it was good to see a film that didnt rely on jokes as much like so many stale comedies but more on finding the humor out of the characters quirks, which while they were exaggerated, were somewhat true to life.  i found myself laughing though most of the film and occasionally touched.   i thought it would be pretty hard to buy into tom hanks as a foreigner, but i think i got lost in the character as much as one can when a megastar is taking on a role of that kind.  (sort of like watching sean penn in I am Sam as a retard, going 'man he can act', but you cant stop thinking about how its sean penn.  even when occasionally you will be touched by the events. oh well, it didnt end up being as distracting or potentially disasterous as i had thought/feared).

however, even with its premise, there were definite flaws in the film that i hoped it would be without.  so, it probably was one of my favorite films of this year so far, but not anywhere near one of my favorite spielbergs.  atleast he's working like a motherfucker, so as long as he keeps making movies i dont mind him trying something different as long as we dont have to wait 5 or 6 years between films.  BIG OL' SPOILERS it seemed like sort of a waste to spend all this time on the romance, to have it resolved so shabbily.  i mean, what was the point? END SPOILERS

so it was a fine bit of enjoyable fluff, WAAAY better than most movies that would attempt to be 'this kind' of movie, but defnitely far from perfect.  spielberg is an A student and i feel like he sort of handed in a C paper.  and even though his C paper is way better than most C students work will ever be, it just feels to fall short of his potential.

[Alethia]

just saw it.  i thought it was alright.  i honestly enjoyed every minute that catherine zeta jones was not in it.  not that she was bad, but that subplot was just terrible.  some of the writing there...i cringe just thinking about those scenes.  otherwise this was pretty good overall.  but, and there's no surprise here, it goes on a bit longer than it should.

[Ghostboy]

This is another case of the themodernage and I agreeing on something. In addition to everything he said:

The whimsy is just a little too forced...or, to be more exact, a little too lazy, as if they took all the elements (Hanks, Spielberg,) and figured that that was enough to make magic happen. Almost, but not quite.

We all know that Spielberg dug PDL quite a bit, and while he's been pushing his nice penchant for lens flare and blown out windows since The Lost World, I think this one shows more than a little bit of Mr. Anderson's visual influence (particularly in the -- admittedly beautiful -- kiss). The only thing is, in PDL, all the lens flares and such felt like marvelous little accidents, whereas here they feel very planned.

I'd heard so many bad things about Zeta Jones and the romance that I was actually pleasantly surprised. Their Napoleon dialogue was godawful, but aside from that, I enjoyed her performance, and I liked their romance for the same reason I liked the romance in '8 Mile.'

I wonder what the last-minute reshoot was....

[matt35mm]

I like the movie, but felt it was too long.  Kumar was misused I think (his repeated line about an appointment makes no sense at all).  And I agree that the Napoleon stuff was bad.

But OTHER than that, I really enjoyed the movie.  I love the way it looked.  There were a few shots in the movie that really wowed me.  And I agree that they felt "controlled," but I like that.  I like the sense of control that a filmmaker at the top of his game has (yes I think Spielberg is in his prime right now, even though this isn't necessarily a prime movie).  Spielberg is having FUN now, and that makes me have FUN at the movies.

[Finn]

I thought this was really good. It's a little too long and contrived at times. It had a lot of unoriginal ideas and not all of them worked. But it's fun, sometimes funny and enjoyable. Tom Hanks is really good as well.

[picolas]

so basically it was great. just not a great movie.

[tpfkabi]

so was the opening sequence/Tati - Playtime reference anything special?

[mutinyco]

I liked their romance for the same reason I liked the romance in '8 Mile.'

Only KZ-J didn't lick her fingers first...

I think I need to see it again. It definitely had its share of references to the Anderson sisters. The thing is...it really ISN'T a typical movie by any standards. It was as if Spielberg was trying to take certain devices used by the Coens and the Andersons, but trying to make them work in a mainstream tableau. While I think there were uneven elements, I'm kind of convinced time will render it a classic. I think it just missed everybody at this moment for varying reasons. Mostly because, like The Ladykillers, it wasn't what anybody expected it to be. That said, it was definitely a ballsy undertaking for Spielberg. To a certain extent, complete with its sets, it also reminded me, in its total lack of respect for reality, of One From the Heart. It's weird, cause this was like a mainstream art film -- it tried to bridge that gap and I think that's why people have had some difficulty with it. It was trying to have it both ways. It was dealing with social issues not undertaken by anybody else in major movies right now, but stylized in a way that made some accuse it of being light on those ideas. But the point remains: they WERE there. And those ideas have yet to permeate into ANYTHING the Andersons have done. In that sense, it was like SS had taken their styles and said: This is what's WRONG with your pictures, this is what they're missing.

The thing that's nagging me, though, is that I kind of feel like in its use of style, reference and ideas it IS the movie of the moment. Whereas 9/11 is declaring itself the center of the zeitgeist, I think this film offers a more conceptually accurate rendering of the American multicultural consumer dream world we now live in. With Stanley Tucci's character the direct result of Republican legislation, he represents the conservatives, while Viktor represents the liberals learning to stand up for their ideals. It also touches on the issue of prescription drugs and the varying prices that differ from country to country. It deals with surveillance vs. freedom. And I really liked that Viktor and KZ-J DIDN'T wind up together. I also liked the Dvorak playing throughout.

And I liked the self-reference Spielberg made to Schindler's List by starting it the same way -- foreigners arriving to have their papers checked. Only this is America, not Nazi Germany. Or so it's supposed to be.

I think it needs time to settle. Time will tell.

[Ghostboy]

It seemed pretty typical to me, in almost every aspect. Aside from the romance, it WAS everything I expected from having seen the trailer, note for note. Well, actually, I guess I wasn't expecting Spielberg to ruin that beautiful shot in the trailer, the one with the suit and the reflection, by using it three times in a row and thus robbing it of its subtlety. I think Catch Me If You Can has more potential classic-status, as far as recent Spielberg films go.

[mutinyco]

I think this one's gonna have a reputation. It's gonna take a little while, but I expect a core of people who wind up supporting it.

As for recents in the "classic" arena, it'll be Minority Report.

[Ghostboy]

I hope so. I still think that's one of his best.