The Terminal (2004)

I saw the last of the Renoirs this afternoon, but will hold that review for another time, since the films I've seen in the season have been something of a disappointment.  I got home just in time to view the above on the box as I needed some mindless entertainment.  Well, mindless it certainly was, but entertaining is another story.  Despite the pedigree combination of director Spielberg and leading man Hanks, it was a somewhat sloppy and leisurely telling of a man without a country stuck at Kennedy Airport for nine months (based on the real-life story of an Iranian in Paris).  I can do without actors adopting funny accents even if they are meant to be from a mythical mid-European country, since we all know that it is Tom Hanks up there on the screen.  Stanley Tucci had the unenviable role of the big bad authority figure stopping Hanks from leaving the airport and Catherine Zeta Jones was a pseudo love interest.  There were a few amusing touches, largely from an Indian cleaner, and a feel-good ending, but it took two hours to get there.  I'm afraid it will go down as one of Mr. Spielberg's lesser efforts.  The best thing about it was the colossal set that was built since they couldn't shoot the damn thing at Kennedy, but you would never realise that it was all make-believe.  However, that's hardly a recommendation to see the movie.