What is it like to be having no country, no citizenship, and being denied to step on the American soil? In the film The Terminal, you will know what it is like to be such. I just watched this film this afternoon. The main cast of the film are Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones. And since Tom Hanks tops on the list of my favorite Western actors, in this film, you will be able to find out why.
Tom Hanks is Viktor Navorski, who went to the United States to tour the New York City with his good old Planters Peanuts Can to which according to him in some accounts when he was asked what’s inside the can is,
“My father”
“Jazz”
And if you’re a what-I-see-and-hear-is-what-I-understand person, then you better read between the lines. The Planters Peanuts Can is a metaphor that Viktor Navorski used. It represents his father and his music inclination which is Jazz. And he went all the way to the United States just to have Benny Golson signed on a piece of paper and keep it in his can. Viktor, keeping a can of peanuts, made the Paranoid airport official thought that Viktor escaped from a certain institution (mental hospital perhaps).
However, Viktor’s character here is somewhat of a goody-goody type. Just imagine, he was given a tip that at 12noon, there will be no one guarding the gates and that they will be 5 minutes late. He was right there, just in front of the door, staring at it and he still did not go out. I’m pretty sure that if someone was given such opportunity, they won’t hesitate escaping and won’t even give a damn about the security camera.
Also, there was a part in the film where Viktor decided to escape since his One Day Emergency Visa was not signed by the Pathetic Airport official just to fulfill his promise to his father. In this part, all the guards surrounded the gates with some airport employees behind Viktor. He was quietly standing there as if he was thinking,
“I got busted.”
But it turned out that it was a sort of a despedida thing prepared by the guards where one of them even gave him his jacket because of the winter. Can you just imagine that almost all of the employees risked losing their jobs? In this kind of situation, I don’t expect everyone to be so united. I even expect that there will be some who would prevent Viktor from escaping. Apparently, there’s only one “The Grinch” in this film.
Also, like other commercial films, the injection of love stories was expected and some advertisements from sponsors. For instance, when Viktor was eating at Burger King, and also the part when he was looking for a suit to buy at Hugo Boss. In addition to that, there was a part where he was standing near Starbucks Coffee.
The acting that Tom Hanks showcased here is brilliant. Just imagine, learning to speak Bulgarian with a Bulgarian accent is tough. It reminded me of the days when he was Forrest Gump where he had a cowboy-like accent. And he maintained the accent even when he was speaking in English.
Ratings
Casting: 5 out of 5
Story: 3 out of 5
Touching Factor: 5 out of 5
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