"Big sky, lotsa room..."      

Pushing Tin (R) 

Reviewed April 24, 1999 - Check out the Pushing Tin Website.

Some films are just boring to watch, while others are practically painful.  Pushing Tin, a black comedy/drama about a couple of hotshot air traffic controllers operating in New York, is a little bit of both.  In this film, John Cusack stars as Nick Falzone, "the best" controller in his little world.  Bringing planes into JFK, Newark and LaGuardia, Falzone is at the top of his game.  "I've got 'em lined up like Rockettes," he says as he guides a series of planes into the airport.  Good for you, Falzone...

Unfortunately, Falzone's glory is short-lived with the arrival of another super-controller by the name of Russell Bell (Billy Bob Thornton).  Slightly wild, slightly dangerous, Bell quickly challenges Falzone's spot as "the" controller in the NY area, and a rivalry soon ensues involving Falzone, Bell, and their wives Connie Falzone (Cate Blanchett) and Mary Bell (Angelina Jolie).  Where is this all going?  What's the point?

It's a bad sign when you leave the theater after more than two hours, and you're still asking those questions.  Though Pushing Tin is blessed with some big-name talent, it is (I'm sorry to say) a disappointment in most other respects.  This is a film that has a handful of cool shots, a couple of cool scenes, and a few moments of inspiration from both Cusack and Thornton.  Unfortunately, it offers little else.  It is for the most part slow, meandering, and underdeveloped, while at the same time overstaying its welcome by a good half hour.  Crash and burn...even the talents of Thornton, Cusack, Blanchett and Jolie can't save this disaster...if you've got a choice, see something else...

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!

Quack-a-Mole gives this movie  stars: "All the stars in the world could not light up this dim movie. Don't waste your time, unless you really, really want to see a bad, bad film!" (4/26/99)