Steven Spielberg’s penchant for sentimentality and narrative convention hold back The Terminal, yet the movie is far too much a flight of fancy to be kept
completely grounded. Heaving a bulky accent but otherwise light on his feet, Tom Hanks plays an Eastern European traveler stranded in an American airport, resulting in a Kafkaesque piece of absurdity. This is a delicate, delightful piece of filmmaking that works best as an allegorical comedy, even if that requires a tone Spielberg can’t always maintain.
