Mr. Traffic

Josh Charles is wonderful as a young man obsessed with...traffic? He longs to be a traffic reporter in the sky, but first finds on-again/off-again love with a perplexing Anne Heche (she's so flaky he can't get a grip on her, and neither can we). John Goodman has a funny supporting role, and the production values are first-rate, but this is short-film material stretched out far too long. Terrific cast includes Dey Young, Christine Lahti, and Brent Spiner, but each has very little to do, and the film is flattened out by an overall lack of imagination and by its length. More cleverness was obviously needed; there's not enough substance here for the picture to stay the course. ** from ****

I had a great time with this well done, quirky film. My crush on Anne Heche started with her engaging performance in this piece. The crush is no more, but my admiration for the movie, (and Ms. Heche), remains. The film is sweet without becoming saccharine. I recommend it.

I saw this movie probably 3 years ago and thought it was pretty good. Josh Charles does a nice job as a traffic controller in a small town who dreams of landing a big job in a big city. The movie details his life, more or less if I remember correctly. Great song by Rusted Root is featured in the movie (send me on my way).

"Pie in the Sky", an ill-focused, occasionally clumsy, and always good natured little romantic comedy, tells of a dauntless young man, Charlie (Charles), who is consumed with two things: Working as the "eye in the sky" for L.A.'s Metro Traffic (a traffic reporting bureau) and working on his relationship with his girl friend (Heche). There is as little to fault in this film as there is to praise making it recommendable by default but also keeping it from scoring high marks. An okay diversion for sofa spuds but not worth a trip to the video store. (C-)

This is an imaginative movie, with elements of the slightly farcical movies of the '80's (Secret of my Success, you know the sort of thing). It's saved from mediocrity and anachronism by a sort of twisted realism caused by disjointed, surprising plot changes/devices. This is also evident in the sex scenes (with a sort of "left a bit"/"can we... move down the bed" approach) which makes the romance element all the more touching.

Josh Charles (Threesome, Dead Poets Society) delivers a traffic metaphor heavy Kevin Bacon (in She's Having a Baby)-esque narration competently, while Anne Heche manages to pull off being equally expressive, beautiful and serene. It's very hard not to love her in this movie, should you let yourself fall into the sap trap.

It's a striking film, touching and witty. Feelgood? Yeah, I guess I feel alright.