Last week, the area of Florida in which I live was hit by Hurricane Milton.  As it approached, there were a number of jokes bandied about comparing the supposed milk toast name of the storm and the actual terrifying strength behind its rain and winds.  Floridians are known for their gallows humor in the face of such weather events.  Hilarity aside, it wrecked a lot of lives, some of which had already been significantly impacted by Hurricane Helene two weeks previously.  Praise God, I cannot make the same claim on my life, though there are some inconveniences.  Part of my neighbor’s roof currently rests against the side of my house and most of the area is without power.  As a sign of how twenty-first century adjusted we have all become, we are forced to wait for all manner of modern wonders God put into the minds of men for which we have come to take for granted.  There are long lines for gasoline, days spent monitoring the progress of electric company crews, and alternate routes to drive owing to downed trees, just to name a few of the ways time is being elongated.  If you are a practicing Catholic like me, it is yet another lesson in the virtue of patience.  If you are not, you can watch The Terminal (2004) and witness how anyone can learn to grow in this quality.

As a title like The Terminal might suggest, the place where we see this waiting take place is in a busy American airport welcoming passengers to New York City.  Among those queuing to have their passports stamped by immigration officers is Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks).  What makes him special is that he is from Krakozhia, a fictional Eastern European country that has undergone a revolution while he is in transit over the Atlantic Ocean.  This geopolitical development makes Viktor a man without a country, meaning he cannot legally enter the United States.  This is the word of United States Customs and Border Protection Officer and acting field commissioner Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci).  If you cannot tell by that officious sounding title, he takes his job perhaps too seriously.  He is in line to have the “acting” removed, which causes him to be extra fastidious to the point of mania.  Viktor’s unique situation is viewed by Frank as a nuisance, and the representative of the American government does everything he can to make the foreigner someone else’s problem.  Instead of waiting for an interpreter, Frank turns Viktor loose among the gates with best wishes and a few food vouchers.  Frank expects Viktor to find some way out of the airport.  Instead, the visitor, with his limited grasp of English, attempts to do things in a legal fashion.  At first, this means several denied tries at obtaining a visa, getting on a first name basis with the lower ranking Customs and Border Protection Officer Dolores Torres (Zoe Saldana) and her red rejection stamp.  Frank even seeks to make it easy for Viktor to escape, but the Krakozhian does not understand the ruse and remains in the airport.  With dwindling food supplies, Viktor’s next priority is to find some form of sustenance.  At first, he is successful collecting luggage carts and getting the quarters that are refunded to the customer when the wagons are returned.  Frank eventually learns of this, and because he is eager to see Viktor leave, puts an end to this scheme.  The next solution is Enrique Cruz (Diego Luna), a food service deliveryman who has a crush on Dolores.  In exchange for meals, Viktor acts as a go-between with Dolores and Enrique during his daily visa attempts.  This goes well until Dolores and Enrique eventually get married.  In the meantime, Viktor eventually finds employment.  One night while passing by a part of the terminal under construction, he decides to use the tools at hand and completes the work.  So impressed is the foreman by the craftsmanship that he decides to bring the Krakozhian onto the crew, paying Viktor off the books.  The timing of this is good because Viktor has begun to develop feelings for Amelia Warren (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a flight attendant who he has had a few encounters with to this point.  The language barrier has led her to believe he is pursuing the same kind of jet-setting lifestyle as her.  This assumption has her mistaking him for other men she has dated.  She asks him out a couple of times, but is embarrassed when he says he cannot “go out.”  Yet, because he has made such a positive impact on the other airport employees, they all contrive to get them to have dinner together in the terminal.  Despite their chemistry, she decides that she must remain committed to a man with which she has been patient for several years.  Frank, too, tries to dash any hopes of romance when he takes Amelia aside to explain Viktor’s status, also hoping to discover more about this so-called annoying tourist.  Any anger at being lied to on her part is eased by Viktor when he explains why he has come to New York.  He is there to fulfill his recently deceased father’s dying wish of getting the signature of Benny Golson (as himself), a famous jazz musician among the many dad followed.  She may have decided not to be with Viktor, but she is able to secure a one-day visa for him after he learns of Krakozhia’s liberation.  The only problem is that it needs to be signed by Frank.  Because the now permanent field commissioner feels thwarted by Viktor for the past several months, not only does Frank deny the request but also threatens the people Viktor has befriended if the Krakozhian does not immediately depart.  Wanting to save their jobs, Viktor agrees to go.  However, on his way to the gate, he is confronted by Gupta Rajan (Kumar Pallana).  The janitor accuses Viktor of cowardice, and holds up the plane that would take the foreigner back to Krakozhia even though it means deportation for Gupta.  With one last coup from Frank’s staff, Viktor makes it into the city and is successful in keeping his promise.

Not only is Viktor, er, victorious in The Terminal, he is an easy guy to like.  His behavior reminds me of a quote from St. Julie Billiart, an eighteenth/nineteenth century French nun recently featured on the Hallow app’s daily saint prayer.  It reads, “God loves a simple heart which does its best.”  If that does not describe Viktor, then I should quit writing film reviews as I do.  This poor man is essentially homeless for months, and we are taught as Catholics to give whatever we can to this group of unfortunate people.  I cannot think of a simpler section of society, though this typifies his attitude regardless of his status.  What maintains it is his difficulty with English.  There is another Catholic manner of describing this, though it is through a saying often erroneously attributed to St. Francis of Assisi.  It goes, “Preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary use words.”  One can imagine the Italian founder of the Franciscans saying something along these lines because he put them into action.  When he did speak, as another legend goes, he grew frustrated by the tepid response of his audience and instead delivered a sermon to the animals of the field.  The point here is that you do not need to be eloquent to inspire.  Like St. Francis of Assisi, Viktor sees a need and acts.  Aside from filling in as a construction worker, he also acts as an interpreter for Frank when a Russian émigré has an episode regarding confiscated pills.  While Viktor is asked to perform this task instead of doing it on his own, he understands the situation is less grave that Frank believes and behaves accordingly.  Finally, Viktor should be praised for his rule following.  Granted, he technically breaks the law at the end, and the Church does have many a holy man and woman who did incredible things others considered violations, Viktor still resisted many opportunities do so.  It reminds me of the Biblical passage when the Pharisees test Jesus to see if He will counsel them to go against Rome in paying their taxes.  This is the famous passage found in three of the Gospels that says “Render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar.”  What this means is that certain precepts should be adhered to so long as they do not contravene God’s law, which is about doing good for others.  This is as good a description of Viktor that I can give you.

I enjoyed describing The Terminal to you as much as watching it.  Viktor is an incredible person that embodies many Christian virtues without being too outwardly religious.  I put the qualifier on there because there is a scene where we see him Cross himself, though in the Orthodox style of right to left shoulder.  At any rate, this film gets my fullest recommendation.