Les Aiguilleurs

Here's 1999's winner for the film least likely to be shown during an overseas flight. Cusack stars as a hotshot air traffic controller whose top dog status is threatened by the arrival of the equally gifted but enigmatic Billy Bob Thornton. Cusack's mounting rivalry with the inscrutable Thornton eventually consumes his personal life as he falls prey to Thornton's sexy wife (Angelina Jolie) and his marriage (to Cate Blanchett) gradually disintegrates. Director Mike Newell showed great flair in balancing comedy and drama in 1994's "Four Weddings And A Funeral", but here the mix is less assured and the extremes far too close together. Only fitfully amusing, "Pushing Tin" too rarely concentrates on its examination of air traffic controllers and their daily stresses, opting instead for a simple one-upmanship plotline with a superficial and sometimes flippant look at the men and women within whose hands we entrust our lives. The four leads are more than adequate in their roles, though the characters portrayed by Blanchett and Jolie (excellent during her brief appearances) are all but forgotten for long stretches at a time. As for rental possibilities, visibility should remain zero.

John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett and unfortunately come together to create this sad excuse of a film called "Pushing Tin."

The absence of humor, plausible plot, lack of chemistry between the lead actors as well as the slow pace made me realize that I had made a mistake watching "Pushing Tin." The pace is so slow that I had enough time to go out and get fast food, eat, come back and not miss a thing.

In fact, the best thing I can say about this film is that they survived this film and are going to be in better films. "Pushing Tin" is nothing more than good talent gone to waste.

Pushing Tin takes a unique subject matter, a job that affects almost everyone in America, and compelling lead character in the midst of a moving internal struggle and absolutely ruins it. Why did the director and/or producer have to try and make Top Gun for Air Traffic Controllers? The first scene of this movie was so laughable I almost walked out. These filmmakers adapted this movie from an article, as the opening credits state. Too bad they used the Hollywood cookie cutter to do it. Mr. Cusack and Mr. Thornton are enjoyable as usual and so was Ms Blanchett, unfortunately that is not enough.

Pushing Tin is somewhat of an odd movie. It's not really funny enough to be considered a comedy, and it's not really compelling/dramatic enough to be considered a good drama. It attempts to pull off both at once, but never really succeeds.

The pacing seems a little "off". You always expect the movie to pick-up at some point but it never really does. It does manage to move along quick enough that it keeps you awake (barely), but I always found myself wanting the story to move someplace / anyplace to keep me more interested than I was.

The story itself primarily centers around the antics of Nick Falzone (John Cusack) and Russell Bell (Billy Bob Thornton), both of whom are air traffic controllers. To it's credit, I've never seen a movie about ATC's, but at the same time Nick and Russell could have been in any other profession and the story would have held up. I sometimes think the writer chose ATC's simply because no one else had done it.

The main conflict centers around Nick's desire to out-do Russell. Why he feels the need to do this is never adequately explained. It's also somewhat of a mystery as to what Nick is hoping to accomplish by out-doing Russell. Most of their competitions are basically irrelevant and don't prove much anyway: holding onto a match the longest, shooting freethrows, stacking as many planes into a queue as possible, etc, etc. Their "battle of wits", as it were, eventually begins to involve their significant others. Unfortunately the respective wives (Blanchett and Jolie) are seemingly little better than pawns in Nick and Russell's bizarre and meaningless mind game. They don't have much depth of character, nor any wants/desires of their own (beyond the superficial), and, as a result, you don't really care what happens to them.

So, in short, Pushing Tin isn't that funny (though I seem to remember it being billed as a comedy) nor is the story engaging enough to be considered a good drama. As noted in my header, it's not a bad movie, but it isn't that good either. Worth a rental if you've seen everything else.

I rate it 5/10.

PUSHING TIN (1999) ***

Starring: John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett, Angelina Jolie, and Jake Weber Directed by: Mike Newell Running time: 124 minutes Rated R (for language, and some sexuality/nudity)

By Blake French:

"Pushing Tin" is really nothing more than a very interesting character study that maintains support from its script to succeed. So many movies these days have well-written characters but not the thriving screenplay to back them up. At last, we can enjoy a film with strong comic performances, smart dialogue, and an engaging atmospheric environment.

The film stars John Cusack as a hot shot air traffic controller named Nick Falzone, nicknamed "the zone" because he is truly the best at his profession. He lives in New Jersey with his happy housewife, Connie, and their son. (who is seldom mentioned or seen.) He has an intense, stressful work life, enjoys having fun with his co-workers, and seems to have a pretty optimistic look at life.

All things change, however, when Nick meets his new neighbor, Russell Bell. He's a roughneck motor cycle-driving, quiet and challenging man who really needs to shave. Nick immediately feels tension between Russell and himself. And it just so happens that Russell is also an air traffic controller, making things even more competitive between these two individuals. The two soon begin efforts to try to impress the other, in and outside the job.

The personal battles between Nick and Russell soon put each of them in bed with the opposite's wife. Nick is the first to commit adultery when he falls for Bell's highly attractive young wife, Mary. While he meant well, by taking her out for dinner after observing Mary sobbing at the grocery store, when they got home, things obviously got out of hand.

The movie is very detailed both in the workplace and in its colorful, intriguing characters. The original tasting flavor of being placed in an air traffic control tower is quite captivating. The characters stare at the plane monitors like children at a television screen while playing a video game. The characters themselves are relevant, ordinary people, which is why they are so easy to relate to. Even though some of their personalities and motives are instantly obvious, we still have lots of fun watching their everyday living style

While some comedies would eventually regulate into a formalistic climax and follow predictable events, "Pushing Tin" is too smart for that. The ending is happy and light hearted, but it's most of the fun getting there. Mike Newell, director of "Four Weddings and a Funeral," knows exactly what he wants out of the actors here, and they do exceedingly well at giving what he requires. Each fits their character perfectly, especially Cusack, Jolie, and contributing an Oscar worthy performance, Thornton.

"Pushing Tin" offers a variety of characters and contrasts them effortlessly. In particular, during a just-for-fun basketball game, Nick makes a sudden bet for $100 that Russell can not make a hoop from a certain point in the court. Russell excepts. Nick nervously changes his gamble to fifty cents, but Russell stands firmly on the original amount. He shoots...and misses. "Close enough, Russell," pardons Nick, "Lets call it even." Russell walks over to him manly and states "You either make it or you don't," as he hands Nick the cash promised. The chemistry between these characters is as effective as pouring oil in to water. And that is exactly how it is designed to be.

Brought to you by 20th Century Fox.