5.0 out of 5 stars
How, precisely, would you like me to do this?, April 28 2009
Fantastic flick. "All in a day's work". You'll love the way one of them lines up 4-5 as if that's all he's been doing all day. And you'll laugh your head off about how they just love to feel that back-draft.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Pushing Tin, Jun 18 2004
This review is from: Pushing Tin (Widescreen) (DVD)
This has to be one of the funniest films I have ever seen. John Cusack plays airtraffick controller extraordinaire Nick Falzone. The environment could be any work place that encompasses a great amount of stress. Billy Bob Thornton (Bell)arrives on the scene, a quiet but brilliant, airtraffick controller. The complete opposite to Falzone's personality. The reaction of the two main characters to each other is swift and combustable. Falzone happens to chance meet (Angelina Jolie)Bell's wife followed by one night of togetherness. Falzone and Mrs. Bell are already feeling guilty. She tells Bell of the occurence and the fun begins. Bell cleverly plays mind games on Falzone by "noticing" Mrs. Falzone (Cate Blachett). Falzone's becoming fanatical about the (implied)relationship between Bell and Mrs. Falzone.Nothing is happening but his desperation drives his wife away.The best scenes are those in the car after the funeral of Mrs.Falzones dad and the scene on the aeroplane. All the actors do a great job of defining real life scenarios, John is wonderful and has a great cast alongside him to present this fabulous film.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Scrary job where split-second decisions are essential., April 24 2004
This review is from: Pushing Tin (Widescreen) (DVD)
Starring John Cusack as an air traffic controller, Pushing Tin introduced me to a scary world where split-second decisions can decide the fate of planes full of people, where being good enough to do this job and command good salaries requires quick thinking, fast talking and steady nerves. Set in pre-9/11 New York, I'm familiar with the neighborhoods and the skyline and I must say that every time a camera panned the World Trade Center, I got a little twinge. The year the film was made, 1999, comes across as a much more innocent age.
Anyway, John Cusack is married to Cate Blanchett and they live with their children in an area that looks like Staten Island or Queens. She's a real babe in this film and plays her part well, being so good at her New York accent that I could have sworn she had grown up in Brooklyn.
When Billy Bob Thornton, an air traffic controller from another part of the country, is transferred into the New York area, there is immediate competition between the two men. They compete on the job and I realized that the term "pushing tin" means pushing the planes on their computer screens through the complicated ritual of landing in a way to make sure they come in on time. This sometimes requires big risks be taken, as these planes have to be very delicately manipulated.
The two men also compete for women. Billy Bob is also married to a babe, Angelina Jolie, and it doesn't take long for the two couples to get caught up in a romantic web. There's tension throughout as bedroom shenanigans seem to be getting out of hand and Billy Bob's propensity for unpredictable violent behavior becomes more and more threatening.
Acting was excellent, and I loved the cinematography of the planes and the skylines. The romances were a little silly and maybe that was why the film is billed as a comedy, but it really didn't matter because I was totally caught up in the story itself. Certainly, Pushing Tin gave me a new understanding about the challenges of keeping airline passengers safe in the sky and the jobs of the people who do this for a living.
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