Pushing Tin Review
by James Sanford (jamessanford AT earthlink DOT net)April 24th, 1999
"Pushing Tin" is air traffic controllers' slang for getting planes in line for landing. That's the responsibility of Nick Falzone (John Cusack), one of the sharpest controllers at New York's Terminal Radar Approach Control center. Blessed with a lightning-fast mouth and mind, he's become known as "The Zone" for his ability to sort out potential problems in the sky before they happen.
What he's not so hot at doing is sorting out his own emotions, particularly after the enigmatic Russell Bell (Billy Bob Thornton, with a slimmer than usual physique and newly acquired hair) joins the TRACON team and almost instantly arouses Nick's suspicions. "Pushing Tin," an agreeably twisted comedy-drama from the gifted British director Mike Newell ("Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Donnie Brasco"), tracks the slow unravelling of Nick's mind and his marriage as he becomes obsessed with Russell and his comely young wife Mary (Angelina Jolie), who guzzles vodka by the bucketful to deal with the stress in her home.
Controllers' wives, we learn, refer to themselves as "firsts," "seconds," etc., a telling sign of the failure rate of most controllers' relationships. The screenplay by Glen Charles and Les Charles offers many such observations, and it's no surprise to find it was based on a New York Times Sunday Magazine feature that investigated the pressure-cooker world of guys like Nick and Russell. But rather than playing the subject matter for high drama, "Tin" finds a certain sardonic humor in the paradox of men and women who can't cope with their own problems, yet take the lives of thousands of travelers into their hands daily. We're told an air traffic controller saves more lives in one shift than a surgeon does in an entire career. "Tin" is also very much in the same school as other Cusack comedies, such as "Grosse Pointe Blank" and "Say Anything," movies that didn't break any box office records when they were originally released, but have built up fervent followings in the years since. This stage-trained actor generally has uncommonly good taste in material, as well as an impressive capacity for playing seemingly normal guys who have to deal with issues much bigger than themselves. Nick may be only a breath away from flat-out nuttiness, but Cusack obviously likes him nonetheless, and gives him a largely sympathetic reading. Subtlety and nuance are the keys to Thornton's performance as well, which keeps us guessing as to the true nature of Russell's personality. In the potentially tricky role of Nick's wife Connie, the luminous Cate Blanchett adopts a dead-on Long Island accent while avoiding turning the woman into a caricature. Jolie's abrasive/pathetic Mary - who growls "I'm too sober for this" when Nick tries to engage her in conversation - is also colorful and funny.
James Sanford
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