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This comedy is manufactured from the synergic wizardry of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Its range of information is unrestricted and Spielberg employs the most primitive narrative structure: a single plot without any flashback or flashforward. The story depicts the evolutionary change of Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) from his alienation to the airport terminal to his familiarity with the environment, and from the initial antagonism of the airport staff to their emergent acceptance and the subsequent welcome on him. The presence of Amelia Warren (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is a compositional motivation to bring in the element of love affairs (an expected substance in this genre) to gratify the viewer, advance the story progression and fore-locate a diegetic device in assisting the protagonist to attain his goal.

The story is constructed around 3 motifs: (1) waiting (and patience); (2) promises; and (3) home. It bears the typical narrative features of the classical Hollywood cinema in that Viktor pursues the goal of getting the signature from a Jazz player in New York but is hurdled by his being detained at the JFK airport. His patience and helpfulness bestow on him the approbation from the airport staffs, which finally empowers him with the referent power and becomes the solution that enables him to overcome the hurdle and eventually accomplish his goal. The film is full of laughters and humours in both dialogues and visuals.

Parallel to the motifs, the story is a parable associating with a theme that kindness, amiability and patience win the support from people. In addition, a message embedded in the sequence of the immigration officer's persuading Viktor to tell one thing that he is afraid of about his homeland seems to rattle the stance of the US in its apparent role of human right defender. That connotation comes with depth purporting to confound the parochial, if not misleading or false, perspective of Uncle Sam (the US) in being the Messiah.

Despite of the many compositional motivation (e.g., the fountain, Viktor's finding a job, the presence of Amelia) for story progression, the film also comes with ample realistic motivation (e.g., the JFK airport terminal, the carts and the return of coins, the brand shops of Hugo Boss, Starbucks, Burger King and the like). There are a lot of repetition in story locales (Gate 67, bookshop "Border", washroom, the visa application counter and the immigration personnel's office) which are necessary for narrative progression in a story of events occurring in a confined physical area. Nevertheless, Spielberg manages the web of repetition well.

Although being a comedy, the film still comes with suspense. To name a few: What is inside Viktor's can? How will he get out of the terminal? Will he attain his goal? Will he have a happy ending with Amelia? Will the bad immigration officer be punished? Will there be any surprise to the viewer? Again, Spielberg tactfully precipitates these question marks and interlocks them by a flow of events.

In addition to montage, Spielberg exploits 3 other filmic techniques: (1) deep focus and deep space staging (the synergy of both serves to dilate the attention on the protagonists in the mass of terminal passengers, thereby conveying the message that they (Hanks and Zeta-Jones in particular) are a few out of the too many); (2) asynchronous sound (vocals of characters precede the image with the effect that the viewer hears the off-screen dialogue before seeing the image) in 3 scenes; and (3) juxtaposed images (Viktor doing construction work).

The film is amusing, terrific and tailor-made for Hanks who stages excellently, particularly in speaking with Russian accents. Zeta-Jones does not lose her charm after giving birth to her baby. Does a classical Hollywood movie have a classical Hollywood ending? Find it out yourself from this "must see".

註：本評論純屬影評作者個人意見，並不代表本網立場。
Note: This views presented in this review is solely the views of the critic who wrote it and do not represent the stance of our website.

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