Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

What I thought to be an entertaining John Cusack film, given his successful late 90's streak, "Pushing Tin" was not. John Cusack plays a top air traffic controller in a world where one mistake could cost hundreds of lives. His position as alpha dog is unchallenged until Billy Bob enters the game as a newly transferred controller.That's pretty much all that is going on in the work environment. After this, the film relies heavily on anything but the interesting world of radar and traffic control and focuses on the life outside the work boundaries, touching subjects like family, infidelity, deception and strange ways to see John Cusack's character get bested by Billy Bob's.I am surprised to see Mike Newell loose form after "Four Wedding and A Funeral" and "Donnie Brasco". The writing was a complete mess and years later I think it's only good for a Sunday afternoon watch where you could do other activities while running the movie in the background.

Pushing Tin (1999): Dir: Mike Newell / Cast: John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett, Angelina Jolie, Jake Weber: Unusual comedy about air traffic controllers who push planes through the sky on command but underneath it regards pushing the truth out of a hardened soul. John Cusack plays such an individual as he is admired by co-workers. When Billy Bob Thornton shows up as the new employee, competition enrages. When Cusack encounters Thornton's wife an affair happens. He has a nervous breakdown as the affair becomes public knowledge. Directed with insight by Mike Newell and backed with fine production. Previously Newell directed the acclaim Four Weddings and a Funeral. Cusack is superb as a guy smitten with jealousy and guilt but ultimately must face consequences. Billy Bob Thornton plays an interesting individual with a daredevil past. His methods of dealing with the affair are intriguing. Angelina Jolie as Thornton's wife is a more predictable element but played with intelligence as she deals with the mistake. Cate Blanchett plays Cusack's wife who is somewhat standard in her position in the story but well played as she becomes the victim. Other roles are about as enticing as a paper bag leaving thankfully, the leads to carry through front and centre. Intriguing film about redemption in the midst of our own travesties. Score: 8 ½ / 10

Saw this as I was in the mood for a comedy. It was a rainy day and I needed to be uplifted. Wrong move. For me, this was a heavy handed drama with workplace humor. When you are dealing with a job as stressful as air traffic controllers, these jokes can be funny. In context, to many on the outside world they are also sick and sad at the same time.The plot is more a device to move the character of Nick "No Fly" Falzone through the movie. Billy Bob Thornton's character Russell Bell is never fully developed, making him two dimensional.In no way is his character equal to Nick, no matter how the movie poster and ads portray him.To get an idea of how "funny" this movie is, within the first ten minutes we have Mrs. Falzone (Cate Blanchett) being asked by her husband "You're happy, aren't you Connie?". Half an hour into it we see the controllers getting "liquored up" at a bar-b-que while the wives discuss dealing with the grinding jaws of their husbands.By the time Russell and Nick are requesting more planes, and Russell gets the 747 you can see where this movie is going. Yeap, Russell is going to move Nick outside of his comfortable place in life.This film doesn't tie itself in a pretty little bow. If you are looking for that, I recommend another film. If you are in the mood to see a tiny slice of the life of an aircraft controller, you might want to try Pushing Tin.

This movie took a bit too much license with the lives of air traffic controllers. While the stresses of the job were well emphasized, the side plots were sophomoric. The main character, played by John Cusack, was too immature. He spent all his time goofing off and showing off. Probably not likely to survive very long in the real career. The relationship between he and his wife (Blanchett) was sappy. They were supposed to have two kids, one of them on Ritalin, but they were shown only briefly in one scene. The ending was just plain schmaltzy.There were a few things I liked about the movie. One guy makes a mistake, and two planes barely miss each other. One controller openly mocks and insults him. Obviously, the poor guy never established clout. However, Cusack's character has clout, because he knows how to schmooze. When he messes up, the other controllers are more empathetic. That's true in "real life". Much of success in any career is establishing clout among your co-workers. Aside from that, the movie was not very enlightening.