What do you get when you take a legendary director, an Oscar winning actor, and the most beautiful woman on Earth?

  “The Terminal.”

  The director I’m talking about is, of course, Steven Spielberg, the Oscar winning actor is Tom Hanks, and the most beautiful woman on Earth is none other than my future wife (it could happen), Catherine Zeta Jones.

  For those of you who don’t know what a terminal is, it’s pretty much an airport. I personally love airports, everything about them is incredible, and that is no doubt one of the reasons I enjoy this movie so much.

  Released in 2004, “The Terminal” is the story of a man named Victor Navorski (Hanks), a man from the imaginary country of Krakozia, who finds himself stranded in JFK airport as his country descends into revolution, and his passports and visas become null and void.

  Unable to leave the terminal under the express directions of Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci) the airport’s head of security, Victor becomes acquainted with a whole host of unique characters including Mulroy the baggage claim guy, Enrique Cruz the food truck driver, and Gupta Rajan, the crass, but lovable janitor.

  It is also at the terminal where Victor meets, and falls in love with a beautiful flight attendant Amelia Warren (Zeta Jones). Using the help of his new found friends, Victor goes on a mission to find work, learn english, and get a date with Amelia, all without leaving the terminal.

  This movie has everything you’d want in a  romance movie. It’s not overly sappy, but it still pulls on your heart strings. The characters are lovable, but have clear and present flaws. When it comes down to it, this movie is just very real.

  You take an impossibly scary situation, being trapped in an airport in a foreign country alone all while your country is falling apart, and people you know are possibly dying, and you find the silver lining in it. Victor makes the best of it. He goes out of his way to meet people, and learn the culture, and create as comfortable of a life as he possibly can for himself.

  The emotions and empathy you feel towards Victor and his situation are as much a credit to Hanks’s acting, as it is to Spielberg’s directing. It’s not easy making an entire movie a “box episode,” but not once does this movie feel like it’s drawn on to long, or is limited by its source material.

  “The Terminal,” I’m sure, will take off of the screen and make a safe and memorable landing in your heart (Come on, I’m doing a review about an airport movie, you had to expect at least one cheesy pun).

    Seen The Terminal? What are your thoughts? Comment below, and tell me what you think!