David Denby writing in The New Yorker puts his finger on another problem:

The boy’s voice, as (author Jonathan Safran) Foer creates it, is a babbling brook of hopes and questions and bits of information on every imaginable subject. In the novel, we can enjoy all of this heroic spieling and exploring as a form of antic play. It never occurs to us that an actual little boy, however bright, however maddened by grief, could talk this way. Oskar’s voice is a writer’s virtuoso construction, and Foer combines it with the voice of Oskar’s grandfather, photographs of falling bodies, odd dialogues, lists of numbers, garbled paragraphs, nearly blank pages, and many other typographical adventures. The novel is a kind of postmodernist collage stained with tear… Much of what Oskar says in the book is amusingly beside the point. Onscreen, however, the sound of a hyper-articulate boy talking semi-nonsense becomes very hard to take.

I agree.  The “voices” in the book did not translate well into film, which is way too literal to capture the author’s delicacy, humor, and fantastical imagination.

In the Toy Story Movie Trilogy, Cowboy Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) undergoes the rich complex emotional journey of an exceptionally well-drawn Power of Love character. In Toy Story 3, Woody completes that journey with his beloved Andy.  Toy Story 3 is as powerful, heartfelt, thrilling and funny as any film deserving of a “Best Picture” nomination.  It has my personal vote to take home the 2011 Oscar in that category.

Power of Love characters see their own value only as it is reflected in the eyes of their love object.  Woody’s relationship with Andy defines who Woody is and why he feels important.  His “special place” in Andy’s heart and on Andy’s pillow is put at risk in the first Toy Story film.  A new toy, Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen), has captured Andy’s attention and interest.  When Buzz appears on Andy’s bed Woody approaches the interloper to set things straight.

Woody says:  “Hey hey! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Did I frighten you? Didn’t mean to. Sorry. Howdy. My name… is Woody… and this… is Andy’s room. That’s all I wanted to say. And also, there has been a bit of a mix-up. This is my spot, see… the bed here.”

When Buzz won’t cooperate Woody’s reaction is mounting fury and intense jealousy.  Woody says: “Listen, Lightsnack, you stay away from Andy. He’s mine, and no one is taking him away from me.”

Over the course of Toy Story, Woody learns to share Andy’s love.  Woody and Buzz become friends.  It is a hard won step in Woody’s emotional journey.  Power of Love characters fear becoming useless, unnecessary, unwanted or unappreciated.

These characters define their own self-worth by how much others need or are dependent on them. Jealousy and resentment are the immediate reactions when a Power of Love character feels displaced or rejected. Woody must put these selfish feelings aside and learn that love is expansive.  If you are open and generous you will find that there is enough to go around.

Power of Love characters are usually the caretakers in an ensemble and Woody relishes filling that role with the other toys.  In Toy Story 2 Woody prepares to go away with Andy to Cowboy Camp.  Woody is concerned that everyone is well cared for during his absence.  He says: “Here’s your list of things to do while I’m gone: batteries need to be changed. Toys at the bottom of the chest need to be rotated. Oh, and make sure everyone attends Mr. Spell’s seminar on what to do if you or part of you is swallowed. Okay? Okay, good, okay.”

But Woody’s arm gets ripped and Andy leaves him behind.  Andy goes to Cowboy Camp without his friend.  Through a series of unfortunate events, Woody ends up in a yard sale and is stolen by a vintage toy collector.  Buzz, leading the other toys, comes after Woody to return him to Andy and the toy chest.

Initially, Woody is tempted to stay with his new friends.  What he is offered is immortality– to be enshrined in a museum, admired and adored forever by endless generations of children.  Buzz tries to talk some sense into Woody.

Buzz Lightyear:  “Woody, stop this nonsense and let’s go.”

Woody:  “Nah, Buzz.”  (Woody sighs)  I can’t go. I can’t abandon these guys. They need me to get into this museum. Without me, they’ll go back into storage. Maybe forever.”

Buzz Lightyear:  “Woody, you’re not a collector’s item, you’re a child’s plaything. You are a toy!”

Woody:  “For how much longer? One more rip, and Andy’s done with me. And what do I do then, Buzz? Huh? You tell me.”

Buzz Lightyear:  “Somewhere in that pad of stuffing is a toy who taught me that life’s only worth living if you’re being loved by a kid. And I traveled all this way to rescue that toy because I believed him.”

Stinky Pete the Prospector tries to warn Woody that Andy is growing up and will eventually abandon him and break his heart. Woody tells Pete: “Your’e right, Prospector. I can’t stop Andy from growing up… but I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Woody realizes love is worth the pain.  He explains his attachment to Andy to his new friend Jessie the Cowgirl.

Woody: “Look Jessie, I know you hate me for leaving, but I have to go back. I’m still Andy’s toy. Well, if you knew him, you’d understand. See, Andy’s… ”

Jessie: “Let me guess. Andy’s a real special kid, and to him, you’re his buddy, his best friend, and when Andy plays with you it’s like… even though you’re not moving, you feel like you’re alive, because that’s how he sees you.”

Woody: “How did you know that?”

Jessie: “Because Emily was just the same. She was my whole world.”

In Toy Story 2 Woody learns to love Andy even though he knows Andy will eventually outgrow him.  Woody has moved from loving Andy because it makes Woody feel needed and important, to loving Andy unconditionally.  Even if love may eventually break Woody’s heart, it’s the only thing that matters.  The end is already in sight in Toy Story 2.

In Toy Story 3 Woody learns that loving is letting go.  Woody has the opportunity to go to college with Andy.  But he will sit on shelf, gathering dust.  Andy has moved past needing Woody and the cowboy knows it.  Instead, Woody chooses to join his friends and be donated to Bonnie, a much younger girl.

When Andy delivers the box, he is surprised to see Woody inside.  Andy hesitates and then lets go too.  He plays with Woody and the gang one last time and tells Bonnie:  “Now Woody, he’s been my pal for as long as I can remember. He’s brave, like a cowboy should be. And kind, and smart. But the thing that makes Woody special, is he’ll never give up on you… ever. He’ll be there for you, no matter what.”

Both Woody and Andy are ready to move on because that’s what you have to do in life.  The people you love eventually all will leave you– because of circumstances, age or death.  They go off to college.  They move away.  They come to the end of their lifespan.  We can choose to be embittered, resentful and closed off by our loss or we can chose to love expansively and let go like Woody.

This movie was particularly poignant to me because my family has learned all too clearly that loving is letting go.  Eleven years ago, on a Good Friday, my father died of lung cancer.  He was a long-time smoker and an “Ad Man” in the era of Mad Men. I can still see him light up a Pall Mall and sip his Tanqueray Martini.  He always had a crisp white handkerchief in his pocket, a shine on his shoes and the faint scent of Brylcreem and British Sterling.  If I had one word to describe him it would be “dapper.”  He was a showman and a professional hypnotist.  Everyone in town knew him and he was genuinely interested in and curious about everyone he met.

At the end of his life, my dad was in hospice care at home.  We were all fortunate to be with him and in the house when he died.  In his last days, it was clear he was ready– more than ready– to go.  As much as we wanted to keep him with us for just a little longer, it was time to say goodbye.

The biggest thing I’ve learned about love is that it is not diminished by distance.  It is not diminished by time.  It is not diminished by death.  Those we we have loved live forever in our hearts.  It hurts to love and let go.  But it hurts even more to close ourselves off from love.

I have learned we must allow our hearts to be cracked open by love and even be broken.  Those we love will disappoint us.  They will often fail us.  They will leave us. But that is part of being human. It’s a fragile, frail and imperfect existence.  And in the end, love is the only thing that makes life matter– even when it means saying goodbye.  There is no movie I can think of that expresses that sentiment better or with more elegance, grace and humor than Toy Story 3.

I’d love to hear your experience of the movie and how you have experienced and written about loss and love in your own life and work.  Please comment below or post on our new ETB FaceBook Page.  And if you are feeling generous and expansive today please “like” us.

What Went Wrong?

Tom Hanks, playing Vicktor Novorski, is the film’s star and occupies most of the screen time. Unfortunately, Vicktor is not the protagonist of the film. Neither the biggest emotional journey nor the emotional climax of the film belongs to Hanks. This a fatal flaw from which the film never recovers.

Plot Recap

THE TERMINAL is a charming feel good story about a hapless Eastern European, Vicktor Novorski (Tom Hanks), trapped in an airport when his country, Krakozhia, is thrown into turmoil by a coup. His visa is no longer valid because his country no longer exists politically.

Vicktor can neither enter the US nor leave the airport premises until the situation is resolved and a new visa is issued. The character is physically stuck and static throughout the film.

There is no internal conflict between what he wants (his goal or objective) and what he needs (a larger missing element in his life). Vicktor is a passive likeable guy trapped in a cul-de-sac. His main activity is patient and persistent waiting.

No Emotional Journey

Emotionally, Vicktor goes nowhere and does nothing. Although he finds friends and discovers how to survive in the airport, he learns or realizes nothing of consequence emotionally at the end of the film that he didn’t already know at the beginning of the film. He discovers nothing new about himself along the way.

He is not transformed in any significant way by his experiences. Vicktor is the same gentle, genial, anguished but honorable person in the beginning that he is at the end. His internal journey is the emotional equivalent of watching paint dry.

The result is entirely predictable and without much suspense or surprise. We never fear he will do the wrong thing because he is consistently sweet-tempered and generous from the beginning.

Diluting a Weak Payoff

Early on we see Vicktor forego permission to leave the airport premises in order to aid a complete stranger, a man stopped temporarily in the airport with contraband Canadian prescription drugs for his father. Decent, honorable Vicktor makes the choice to sacrifice his own desires and an offer of freedom to aid a stranger in need.

Later, when faced with the same choice, to forgo his quest to save his closest airport friends, does the audience ever doubt that Vicktor will make the same sacrifice? Of course, Vicktor gives up his objective to save his airport friends from trouble. To sacrifice for one’s friends is a far easier choice than to sacrifice for someone you don’t know and will never see again.

This lowers the emotional stakes— it doesn’t raise them. Vicktor does the expected, again, but in a watered down form.

No Suspense or Surprise

A film doesn’t build interest and suspense by diminishing the emotional cost of an action. Characters should make progressively harder choices —not progressively easier ones. The film’s sequencing of events further diminishes the paltry emotional catharsis for the character.

The story resolution also lacks any suspense or obstacle. Once Vicktor is free to leave the airport he obtains his final objective with little effort. His mission is to complete his dead father’s autograph collection, inspired by the famous “Great Day in Harlem” photograph of 1950’s jazz legends.

He has the precise address where the missing musician can be located. Vicktor makes a bee-line to the club and immediately finds the musician, who complies effortlessly with the request. Vicktor gives up nothing of value to conclude his journey. He ultimately pays no personal price other than the time and patience necessary to wait out his temporary limbo. Vicktor undergoes no personal transformation and learns nothing of consequence emotionally along the way.

The Terminal and E.T.

I believe Spielberg has remade a lesser version of E.T. in THE TERMINAL His fatal mistake in the current film is to cast a star (Hanks) in the alien’s role and center the film around him.

Although E. T. is the title character in the earlier film the little creature is not that film’s protagonist. Elliot played by Henry Thomas is the protagonist in E.T. The decision to make Vicktor the protagonist in THE TERMINAL sank the film emotionally and at the box office.

Let’s look at the similarities: Both films are about aliens who are involuntarily stranded on foreign soil

➢ E.T. is left behind when his mother ship makes a hasty exit and vanishes

➢ Vicktor is stranded when his country vanishes in a swift political coup

Both aliens simply want to collect some artifact and then go home

➢ E.T. collects the “exotic” local flora

➢ Vicktor collects an “exotic” local autograph

Both aliens are sweet-tempered and gentle creatures from beginning to end. Although they don’t change personally they do change the lives of those around them

➢ E.T. has an enormous impact on Elliot, his friends and family

➢ Vicktor has an enormous impact on his airport friends and family

Both aliens are eager to return home and do, in fact, go home at the end of the film

➢ E.T.’s ship returns to collect him and he returns to his home planet

➢ Vicktor’s country returns to the political map and he returns to a new Krakozhia

Both aliens inspire another, who seems to be insignificant and powerless, to a feat requiring great daring and courage

➢ E.T. inspires Elliot, a small child, to defy the government

➢ Vicktor inspires Gupta, a lowly janitor, to defy the airport administration and the government

Both aliens initially inspire fear in their unlikely champions

➢ Gupta frets that Vicktor is a government operative or spy and worries obsessively about what will happen if the airport crew helps Vicktor

➢ A creature from outer space initially does inspire fear.

➢ Elliot enlists his brother and his friends to race to E.T.’s rescue

➢ Gupta distributes posters and rallies the other airport workers to Vicktor’s plight.

In E. T. Elliot is the protagonist. He’s the one who learns the most and has the biggest emotional journey. In THE TERMINAL the person who changes the most and has the biggest emotional journey is not Vicktor Novorski (Tom Hanks) it is Gupta Rajan (Kumar Pallana) the airport janitor.

Gupta’s Emotional Journey

To find the major emotional journey in THE TERMINAL look no further than the curmudgeonly airport cleaner. At the beginning of the film Gupta is afraid and deeply suspicious of Vicktor’s story. The janitor worries Vicktor may be a government spy, possibly working for the CIA.

At the end of the film Gupta believes so deeply in Vicktor’s cause that he tells all the airport workers Vicktor’s story and distributes photocopied posters in support of Vicktor. In the end, the elderly janitor sacrifices his own freedom and safety to aid in Vicktor’s quest.

Gupta goes from worrying, hiding and living in fear to stepping out, standing alone against monolithic bureaucracy and becoming a courageous champion. That’s a huge emotional journey.

Gupta’s Sacrifice

Over the course of the film we learn that Gupta had a little shop in his own country. He was continually pressed by government functionaries who demanded ever-increasing bribes. One day Gupta snapped and a greedy official wound up dead. Gupta fled.

He is hiding in America illegally, trying desperately to be invisible. This insignificant elderly man, who keeps his head down and toils as menial airport worker, is a very unlikely potential hero. Just as the very young Elliot, an easily ignored middle child, is an unlikely hero.

At the end of the film, however, the seemingly unimportant and lowly Gupta emerges from hiding. He discovers a tremendous well of courage within himself. Gupta brings a 747 to a halt with his broom to free Vicktor. The visual image of this little old man on the tarmac is incredibly powerful. It is even reminiscent of that striking image of the unnamed student who stood in front of a tank at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

The old man strides fearlessly onto the airport runway. He is completely dwarfed by the massive and seemingly unstoppable plane. Gupta stands his ground without flinching, and, brandishing a mop as his only weapon, brings the advancing airliner to a standstill.

As a result the old man is led away in handcuffs. Is there any question that the film’s emotional climax belongs to Gupta?

Conclusion

THE TERMINAL is headlined by one of the most beloved actors of his generation. Many critics believe this is among the best performances of Tom Hanks’ career. He is wonderfully directed by Steven Spielberg, one of the most accomplished and popular directors of all time.

The film’s production values are superb. No expense was spared to create a visually appealing and incredibly realistic set. And yet, the film was a critical disappointment and, for all the star power involved, returned a less than stellar result at the box office.

Star power, brilliant performances, directorial flair, lavish production budgets and savvy marketing plans combined cannot substitute for a clear emotional journey on the part of the protagonist. If the protagonist’s journey isn’t clear and compelling then the audience doesn’t feel satisfied. If the audience is not satisfied, the film won’t generate blockbuster tickets sales.