I'd expected this seemingly independent looking film to be rather serious or at least artsy. Surprisingly, it's quite cute and even at times Hollywood romantic -- who would have thought? That said, I'd only seen the poster.

After being miscast in several recent productions, happily Tom Hanks takes this role well, bringing to life Victor Navorski, a citizen of the fictitious Krakozhia. Poor Victor finds himself trapped by good old fashion American bureaucracy in an airport terminal for months. Though under quite different circumstances than those of "Cast Away," Hanks learns to survive in this hostile environment.

An almost unbearably annoying first 10-15 minutes of the film are wrought with ridiculous obstacles, both big and small. Though they quell, the film is never above having its main character walk face first into a plane of glass or slip on his keester after encountering a wet floor. The sight gags keep the film lighter than you might like.

Then there's the romance, Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a distant love interest with all the thrust of Meg Ryan. In fact, there's one shot there where she actually looks like Meg Ryan. This is more of a curious observation than criticism.

Then there's the central plot: warm fuzzy little man against the system, little man standing up for the other little men against the one big man with all the power. Accent on, heart in the right place, visa in the wrong place, Hanks carries the film while secondary characters endear. You may even get a bit choked up during the occasional sentimentality. Also, Stanley Tucci makes a great soulless bureaucrat, head of airport security.

This is really a "B+" movie, but the prominence and quantity of product placement is so distracting, the overall entertainment grade suffers.