PUSHING TIN
** (out of 4) - a fair movie
Release Date: April 23, 1999 Starring: John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett, Angelina Jolie, Jake Weber, Kurt Fuller, Vicki Lewis Directed by: Mike Newell Distributed by: 20th Century Fox Films Corp. MPAA Rating: R (language, a scene of sexuality)
If there's a movie to be made, there's somebody there to make it -- and there's a movie to be made about everything. So it comes as no surprise that veteran "Cheers" writers Glen and Les Charles came up with a darkly introspective comedy about air traffic controllers. The premise, based on New York Times Magazine columnist Darcy Frey's article "Something's Got to Give," sets the audience in the high-tension world of those responsible for directing what suddenly becomes the scariest form of mass transportation. It's an atmosphere that ought to be ripe with sick humor and high-strung individuals, and indeed it is -- until the script takes over. Then PUSHING TIN, the latest from DONNIE BRASCO director Mike Newell, becomes a ho-hum presentation of stale characters and unfinished humor.
The usually-delightful John Cusack stars as Nick Falzone, the ace controller for New York's Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON). He's a slighty off-kilter individual whose life is heading down a dangerous path, but Nick is oblivious to this in the intense confines of work. So when TRACON brings in Russell Bell (Billy Bob Thornton), a controller from out-of-town who can easily match Falzone's acumen, Nick begins to lose control of his life. The suspicion that his wife Connie (Cate Blanchett) may be sleeping with Russell leads Nick to an affair with Mrs. Russell Bell (Angelina Jolie), and soon this erratic lifestyle drives Connie away. Then it's up to Nick to put the pieces back together.
Although billed as a romantic comedy of sorts, PUSHING TIN makes very little success in this area. The typical qualities associated with that variety of comedies is not present: instead of cute romances and a feel-good atmosphere, the movie is filled with tawdry affairs and spiteful language. Cusack's charm, which gained so much ground in the outstanding GROSSE POINTE BLANK, does not make an appearance here, and the movie suffers without it. Cate Blanchett and Angelina Jolie do not make much difference, and neither gives a standout performance. The worst of the lot, however, is the miscast Billy Bob Thornton. Although he excels in the oddball roles, the character of Russell Bell has too many mixed motivations for Thornton's unique approach to work. His efforts are wasted and the role comes out upside-down.
For the most part, the movie as a whole has similar mixed motivations. Although the friction between Nick and Russell ought to generate some sort of witty report, the atmosphere is icy and the air is thick with tension. That's no fun for the audience, and with no sympathetic factor working in its favor, the comedy in PUSHING TIN's script falls flat on its face. The jokes are mostly wry, tongue-in-cheek humor which, at best, inspires nothing more than an occasional chuckle at how bitter it is; in the end, though, there is no true humor involved. The movie is a basket of tarnished goods, and only brief moments of genuine tension and excitement (such as visuals of New York's packed airspace or a bomb threat scene near the end) save PUSHING TIN from crashing and burning.
all contents © 1999 Craig Roush
-- Craig Roush kinnopio@execpc.com -- Kinnopio's Movie Reviews http://www.execpc.com/~kinnopio
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