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Pushing Tin (eng)
 Nick Falzone (John Cusack)
an air traffic control freak. He "pushes tin" at New York's chaotic air traffic
facility that handles up to 7,000 flights a day, and he is the best of the best. That is,
until Russell Bell (Billy Bob Thornton) comes to town. Fueled by caffeine and machismo, a
rivalry ensues between Nick and Russell. The one-upmanship becomes a contest of wits and
wills, where stress is the great equalizer and bravado is the lowest common denominator, a
game where the winner - not the loser - could lose it all. |
Review By : Chin Kit Sen
Click here for pictures
After
a 1996 article on the New York Times Sunday Magazine entitled "Something's Got To
Give", which chronicled the inner workings of the New York TRACON (Terminal Approach
Radar Control) centre as a veritable pressure cooker stewing an atmosphere of stress and
anxiety, producer Art Linson optioned the rights to the story and enlisted the talents of
writers Glen and Les Charles (Taxi and Cheers) with the task of bringing 'Pushing Tin' to
life.
Together with British Director Mike
Newell (Donnie Brasco), the backdrop rivalry between hotshot air controller Nick Falzone
"The Zone" (John Cusack) and cool, motorcycle-riding cowboy Russell Bell (Billy
Bob Thornton) is brought to the big screen with a dash of spice, and not all nice.
A 'not so secret' affair between
Nick and Russell's wife Mary (Angelina Jolie) plays havoc with Nick's conscience and ruins
his professional career as well as his personal relationships, especially that with his
wife Connie (Cate Blanchett).
Funnily, to confront his demons and
to win his wife back, Nick drives almost two thousand miles from New York to Colorado to
seek advice from none other than his arched nemesis, Russell, who in turn had moved as far
away from New York as possible to avoid the now crazed Nick Falzone.
This is one funny tale which brings
'hot action' into what otherwise is seen as the mundane job of an air traffic controller.
The little war of minds the rivalry brings is almost comical, at the risk of mid-air
collisions and thousands of lives both in air and on the ground.
No doubt, there is some very good
acting in the two main characters, seen in Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton. They really
bring that rallying competition to life, Cusack being the 'All Out Trying to Impress' in
his home territory fanatic and Thornton the cool renegade guy who's new on the scene, yet
quick on the pace. Cate Blanchett's character is also key, her character revolving around
that of Nick Falzone. Angelina Jolie plays the weird, eccentric young wife of Russell, but
seriously, she needed a bigger part. After all, crying in the supermarket over a dead
plant and the ensuing dinner is when you see the most of her. Then it's just a dash here
and there.
However, even with the great cast, this movie almost struggles to
hold water. Sure it's great education about all things Air Traffic, and it's funny,
especially seeing Cusack and Thornton being sucked up in the winds of a turbulence wake of
a landing 747 jumbo jet. But it's one thing to tell a true story and another to spruce up
some boring, repetitive lives just because someone wrote an interesting article about it.
Bottom line is. 'Do you really wanna learn that much about an air
traffic controllers' life?' Hey, maybe some of you out there do! |
  
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