Synopsis
Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks), a man from an Eastern European country arrives in New York. However after he left his country war broke out. Suddenly Navorski is a man without a country - or one that the USA cannot recognize, thus he is denied entrance to the USA.
However, he also can't be deported so he is told by the Security Manager (Stanley Tucci) that he has to remain in the airport until his status can be fixed. And also Navorski doesn't speak English very well, so he cannot talk to or understand anyone.
But he somehow adapts and sets up residence in the airport, which makes the man who placed him there unhappy, as it seems he is in line for a promotion but Navroski's presence might complicate that. So he tries to get Navorski to leave but Navorski remains where he is.
Navorski makes friends with some of the people who work in the airport and is attracted to a flight attendant (Catherine Zeta Jones) he runs into whenever she comes in.