Responsible for 7,000 flights a day, coming up with dozens of quick decisions and never making a major mistake -- they are air traffic controllers, the FAA's defenders against "chaos in the sky." In "Pushing Tin", John Cusack's aggressive, controlling, competitive lead character marks another solid outing for the actor, and co-star Billy Bob Thornton is commanding as his rival in the tower.
But pushing middle-of-the-road material, director Mike Newell ("Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Donnie Brasco") brings no special flair to the storytelling, and the 20th Century Fox release will have trouble filling planes in its theatrical flight schedules.
Younger moviegoers will probably book trips elsewhere, but the cast may attract adult women and couples, and the film should wing into friendly ancillary skies.
Oscar nominee Cate Blanchett is a bit tentative but otherwise successful as Cusack's contemporary American wife. Rising star Angelina Jolie exudes sex appeal but has little else to do. Like two gunslingers with an audience, Cusack and Thornton dominate the movie, based on Darcy Frey's 1996 New York Times Magazine article. The talky, jargony screenplay is credited to "Cheers" co-creators and TV veterans Glen and Les Charles.
Nick Falzone (Cusack), Top Dog at New York's Terminal Radar Approach Control Center, is a fast driver and fast talker with an art student wife, Connie (Blanchett). One day, motorcycle-riding loner Russell Bell (Thornton) reports for duty, and Nick starts a rivalry that eventually includes infidelity and crazy, death-defying antics on the runway.
With a mysterious past and loose-cannon reputation, Russell is married to sultry, bored Mary (Jolie). From showing up Nick on the basketball court to handling job pressure with a shrug, Russell is a quiet, meditative guy but too macho to let serious challenges go unanswered.
Nick's losing control of his life because of his irresponsible actions, and his obsessive behavior gets potentially ugly when he sleeps with Mary and breaks up with Connie. He loses his cool and his job, while Russell is the hero when a bomb threat clears the building and he leaves town with Mary to diffuse the tension.
A climactic moment of bonding between Nick and Russell on the tarmac is the blustery payoff that finally takes the edge off the former, but for long stretches, the film is more a glorified sitcom than engaging cinema. Numerous special effects shots of jetliners seem oddly out of joint with the visually ho-hum movie.
PUSHING TIN
20th Century Fox
Fox 2000 and Regency Enterprises present
a Linson Films production
Director: Mike Newell
Producer: Art Linson
Screenwriters: Glen Charles, Les Charles
Executive producers: Alan Greenspan, Michael Flynn
Director of photography: Gale Tattersall
Production designer: Bruno Rubeo
Editor: Jon Gregory
Costume designer: Marie-Sylvie Deveau
Music: Anne Dudley
Color/stereo
Cast:
Nick Falzone: John Cusack
Russell Bell: Billy Bob Thornton
Connie Falzone: Cate Blanchett
Mary Bell: Angelina Jolie
Barry Plotkin: Jake Weber
Vicki Lewis: Tina Leary
Running time -- 123 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
But pushing middle-of-the-road material, director Mike Newell ("Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Donnie Brasco") brings no special flair to the storytelling, and the 20th Century Fox release will have trouble filling planes in its theatrical flight schedules.
Younger moviegoers will probably book trips elsewhere, but the cast may attract adult women and couples, and the film should wing into friendly ancillary skies.
Oscar nominee Cate Blanchett is a bit tentative but otherwise successful as Cusack's contemporary American wife. Rising star Angelina Jolie exudes sex appeal but has little else to do. Like two gunslingers with an audience, Cusack and Thornton dominate the movie, based on Darcy Frey's 1996 New York Times Magazine article. The talky, jargony screenplay is credited to "Cheers" co-creators and TV veterans Glen and Les Charles.
Nick Falzone (Cusack), Top Dog at New York's Terminal Radar Approach Control Center, is a fast driver and fast talker with an art student wife, Connie (Blanchett). One day, motorcycle-riding loner Russell Bell (Thornton) reports for duty, and Nick starts a rivalry that eventually includes infidelity and crazy, death-defying antics on the runway.
With a mysterious past and loose-cannon reputation, Russell is married to sultry, bored Mary (Jolie). From showing up Nick on the basketball court to handling job pressure with a shrug, Russell is a quiet, meditative guy but too macho to let serious challenges go unanswered.
Nick's losing control of his life because of his irresponsible actions, and his obsessive behavior gets potentially ugly when he sleeps with Mary and breaks up with Connie. He loses his cool and his job, while Russell is the hero when a bomb threat clears the building and he leaves town with Mary to diffuse the tension.
A climactic moment of bonding between Nick and Russell on the tarmac is the blustery payoff that finally takes the edge off the former, but for long stretches, the film is more a glorified sitcom than engaging cinema. Numerous special effects shots of jetliners seem oddly out of joint with the visually ho-hum movie.
PUSHING TIN
20th Century Fox
Fox 2000 and Regency Enterprises present
a Linson Films production
Director: Mike Newell
Producer: Art Linson
Screenwriters: Glen Charles, Les Charles
Executive producers: Alan Greenspan, Michael Flynn
Director of photography: Gale Tattersall
Production designer: Bruno Rubeo
Editor: Jon Gregory
Costume designer: Marie-Sylvie Deveau
Music: Anne Dudley
Color/stereo
Cast:
Nick Falzone: John Cusack
Russell Bell: Billy Bob Thornton
Connie Falzone: Cate Blanchett
Mary Bell: Angelina Jolie
Barry Plotkin: Jake Weber
Vicki Lewis: Tina Leary
Running time -- 123 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 4/19/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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