Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: The Terminal ::
by William the Bloody
Viktor Navorski is stranded. While he was in transit from his homeland, a tiny, obscure remnant country of the former Soviet bloch, to New York, an insurgent uprising has taken over. As a result, all visas, passports, and traveling papers from his country have been suspended. So, he lands at Kennedy Airport to find he can't leave. He has no official national affiliation, and so the airport and immigration authorities can't let him in the country, nor is he allowed to travel without papers. So, they tell him to wait. He does, not really understanding much at first (he only knows just enough English to get to his hotel). However, the airport authority wasn't prepared for someone so patient. Days pass, and they thought for sure he would have tried to make a run for it by now, since that's what people usually do in these situations. They figured he'd have broken the law, been arrested, and that would be that. They were wrong. They really don't know what to do with him, besides give him practically free reign over the terminal and lounge areas, but that's about it. His foreign money isn't recognized anymore, so Viktor slowly starts to learn the system to get by. Not able to leave the airport, he has nothing else to do. He discovers the luggage trolley return rack gives you a quarter per trolley as a thank you for putting it away. He learns about all the forms and procedures at the airport by trial and error, trying to figure out which ones he needs to fill out to apply for admission to the U.S. He teaches himself English by buying a book, one version in his native language and the same book in English. And slowly, he makes friends with some of the airport employees who get used to him just being around. There are however, certain things they can't help wonder about him. Why was he coming to New York in the first place? Why is it so important to him? And what's the deal with that peanut tin he carries everywhere?
The Good: It's Tom Hanks. Let's not pretend we don't love him, okay? You can't help it. There's just something about him that's already huggable and lovable to begin with, and he does a great job portraying poor Viktor, the victim of circumstance. You can't help but feel for him as he learns of the horrors unfolding in his homeland, staring at the news report on TV, unable to understand anything the anchorperson says, but seeing images of explosions and gunmen roaming the streets, and trying to read the "tickertape" report across the bottom of the screen as it scrolls by, only able to make out about five words. It's truly heartbreaking. And, not only is it Tom Hanks, but it's Steven Spielberg. Oh come on, don't be like that. You know when these two get together, it's magic, and this is no exception. There are some genuinely cutely funny moments in this film. Like the "x-ray" scene. Maybe that was just me and my odd humor there, but I thought that was great. The little romance thingy Viktor has with a stewardess was actually pretty darn refreshing, in that they don't fall head over heels in love and nothing is ever simple, and in fact, people are pretty screwed up inside sometimes. That's telling it like it is! The overall theme of the movie about how everyone is always "waiting" to do something, be somewhere, etc. is kinda neat.
The Bad: There were times when I didn't know how I should feel. Like right away at the beginning, I'm finding the situation to be humorous, but then I think about the character, and how his home is in trouble, and he has to sleep on these chairs he's pushed together and he doesn't understand anything going on and has no money or food and I immediately feel awful that I found this to be funny at all. I was thinking that I must be a horrible person or something to be laughing at someone in such a terrible plight.
Overall, it was cute. This isn't one of those movies that will change your life or induce a cathartic revelation, but also isn't a crime against humanity like some of the crap out there (*cough*Waterworld*cough*). It was a pleasant diversion, and a lovely way to spend an hour and a half. It may not be everyone's thing, but I don't think you'll hate it.
B+
