When you try to judge the movie objectively, there's no doubt it's very flawed. A ton of things in here make very little sense, are oversimplified or overly sugar-coated, to the point where this becomes basically a fairytale. You can see the broad strokes, the emotional manipulation and pandering all over it. The casting of Tom Hanks for this Bulgarian-speaking guy from Eastern Europe shouldn't even work. That being said, I have a very hard time judging the movie purely that way because it manages to be just so incredibly sweet... and this is coming from someone who tends to have a more cynical view on most "feelgood movies".
A lot of the time you can practically feel the movie doing everything it can to distract you from the problems that are definitely there on paper, but even despite that it somehow works. Tom Hanks being Tom Hanks is already doing a great deal of the work, the stellar cast around him certainly helps as well, the movie looks great (though the color grading is pretty aggressive and noticeable), the comedy mostly works and you just end up being swept up in this warm and fuzzy feeling that the movie manages to evoke.
While this does not make this an absolutely superb movie, it definitely is a very enjoyable watch that kept me engaged despite the rather long runtime for a film like this. If the presentation does not work for you and you find yourself looking too much past it, the movie will collapse from the inside. But if it does, you will come out of this movie with a smile on your face.
Review by DimblesTheDanBlockedParent2020-01-11T00:27:58Z
THE TERMINAL starts off uniquely non-spielberg, more attune to a Coen Brothers comedy by its performance and edit. Good news to me, not to be disappointed by Act 2 as the story progression shines through a classic Spielberg block and John Williams eastern inspired score. Tom Hanks never drops the ball in his performance, as his character may progress in his understanding of the English language and culture, his character retains his quirk.
Act 3 could be mistaken for any alternative in Spielberg's repertoire as its unique premise fades into its fullest progression, simultaneously lending itself as a film extending its run-time to a ridiculous degree.
For a film taking place in one geographical location I was for the most part impressed by the film's ability to fill it's feature, which it did up until a point where the direction and use of score becomes that of a cliché Xmas film, without semblance of the deadpan comedic elements introduced, instead replaced with a common and overdrawn structure of your average and plain feel good film.
You could argue it's better Spielberg lends the 3rd act to fulfil his style of film-making by taking a unique concept and an unusual genre by his standard and then morphing it into a film hes already made 10 times over, another falling deeper into Spielberg's Venus Flytrap of creative Bankruptcy.
6.5/10