Unlike good friend George Lucas who's spent a grand portion of the last two decades fixated on creating more interpretations for pointless "Star Wars" incarnates like if there was no tomorrow, cohort Steven Spielberg has arbitrarily took different avenues in the film industry to exhibit his versatility as a director and in "The Terminal" he shows just how dynamic he is as a director and after almost 45 years in the film industry, he still manages to come up with a wide range of topics and enlightens us that there is a world out there besides "Star Wars".

Just like his previous outing before "The Terminal", "Catch Me If You Can", the subject matter has a humble idea brewing along, but the subtlety by Spielberg along with the likable characters make this one like "Catch Me If You Can" an enlightening character study that will leave you glued to your seat. "The Terminal" could very much be a comeback to Spielberg's early roots when he used to direct more artsy like films, or he may just be doing light, stylish pictures so that he can prepare himself for his next big-budgeted film "War of the Worlds". But for what this movie stands out, we'll just have to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Tom Hanks, who has been a favorite performer of Spielberg's stars as Eastern European born Viktor Navorski who came from the fictitious country of Krakoshia and arrives at John F. Kennedy airport in New York City. When he arrives in America he receives the news that his country is embarked in a bloody war and is unsafe to return there. With the government there being overthrown, his country is now just as good as being obsolete which makes Navorski's passport next to nothing. In others he can't go home because he has no home left plus he can't enter America because he has to go through a lot of hurdles to get through. In simpler terms this man has no place to call home to.

Viktor's first hurdle he must conflict with is a Homeland Security Officer named Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci) who tries to simplify things to our uni-lingual immigrant that in our enter the country, he must have tons of paperwork he must undertake and must be completed.

Days have gone by and Krakoshia has not let up and a homeless Viktor has now taken residence at Gate 67, Frank now has dilemma right under his nose. Frank feels the only solution would be is to get himself off the hook and let someone else take the Viktor situation off his hands. He gives Viktor approval to leave the area in praying he'll be incarcerated by the immigration officials. Being raised in Communist born country Viktor is oblivious to the government policies and to just patiently remain at JFK airport. This leads to the expected friction between the uptight Frank and the wedge that Viktor has made himself to be towards Frank.

With Frank determined to make Viktor's stay more laborious than one deserves, Viktor progressively befriends several employees at the airport which includes the introverted food service worker named Enrique (Diego Luna) who'll offer Viktor food if he can get more info on a fellow employee he's secretly smitten with named Dolores (Zoe Saldana). His other friends include a cargo handler named Joe (Chi McBride) and a custodial worker named Gupta (Kumar Pallana). Viktor eventually gets a job and gets romantically linked to a flight attendant named Amelia Warren (Catherine Zeta-Jones). The characters depicted here is where the comedy factor is featured and at times it feels at most improvised by the cast which speaks volumes knowing the Spielberg is behind the camera.

Hanks does a wonderful job here and captures a sense of likability like one of his most enduring characters in the 1990's namely Forrest Gump. Zeta-Jones has a very limited role here, but she excels well here as love-confused character in a vulnerable position. Normally I cringe when Stanley Tucci ends up playing hateful characters because of his reputation of overacting them. Sure his villainy here is portrayed clichéd, but here he's playing it more subtle and that's refreshing coming from Tucci. Granted Spielberg can overthrow us with overly done schmaltz, but here the schmaltz was limited here and that makes the film all the more enthralling. The characters are low-key but developed enough to get to know them and his light direction doesn't give us any indication that this movie is directed by a legend in his craft.

The script was done by "The Truman Show" writer Andrew Niccol as he succeeds in keeping the script tight with no heavy-handed stuff to catch you off guard while he succeeds in keeping it unconventional. The final scenes feature little surprises that will shock you in some way to the point of refraining from any kind of contrived Hollywood formula.

Overall, "The Terminal" succeeds in being more truthful in showing how developed countries like the United States reacts towards foreigners who want to start a life in this country. The film fends itself nice through the characters and the interactions between them. Its a film that charmingly demonstrates paranoia, insecurity, xenophobia that manifests within the diversity of the American people. This movie can show a sweet side to a rather serious subject without feeling cheated.

THE TERMINAL is an example of Steven Spielberg at his most average as a filmmaker. This is a massive-budgeted production that features Tom Hanks delivering a typically pitch perfect performance as a likeable immigrant stuck at an airport, of all places, and yet compared to Spielberg's best work this is insignificant and ultimately hollow. There are a lot of light laughs en route to the climax, and some well judged supporting roles, but THE TERMINAL also has some serious flaws. A wooden Catherine Zeta-Jones as the shoehorned-in love interest is one of them, and Stanley Tucci's antagonist couldn't get any more bland if he tried. My advice is to watch this if you're a Hanks fan, but otherwise skip it.