Waiting Around

THE TERMINAL
The girls and I saw The Terminal yesterday. It was funny but fell short of being a great comedy. Just like Victor Naborsky, stranded in the terminal, I kept waiting for the character development that would have taken this movie past the "ok for rental" point but unfortunately its not there. We saw very little of anyone's motivation and none of the characters really learned anything.

All the characters were treated much the same as the villain, who was merely a villain. We never knew why he was so awful. He repeatedly was given examples and specifically told how he needed to change but never made any attempt. It would have moved him past being such a two-dimensional character if we had been told what made him unable to change. Of course, minor characters don't need this but in this movie it was if all of the characters were minor in that sense. Wonderful acting from the great cast can't save a movie in that case.

It would be far more satisfying to rent Moscow on the Hudson which deals humorously and well with similar themes of a foreigner stranded in this country learning our culture. Too bad I seem to remember some "R" rated material or I'd get that to show the girls.