Main Cast: John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett, Angelina Jolie, Vicki Lewis
Release Year: 1999
Country: US
Run Time: 124 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
The intense world of air-traffic controllers is played for both drama and laughs in Pushing Tin. John Cusack plays Nick Falzone, the top air traffic controller at New York's Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) Center, where he negotiates air traffic and landing patterns for the Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports, America's most congested airspace. It's a tough, stressful job that's highly demanding and Nick is very good at it -- and he takes no small amount of pride in that. So Nick is less than enthusiastic when a new controller comes on board; Russell Bell (Billy Bob Thornton) transferred into TRACON from the Southwest, in search of a greater challenge. In direct contrast to the wired edginess of Nick's personality, Russell is a model of Zen cool who is so focused on planes it's said he once stood in the wake of a 747 just to know what it felt like. Soon work becomes a constant competition between Russell and Nick, and their competitiveness doesn't stop when work is over. However, the rivalry begins to take a different turn when Nick takes notice of Russell's beautiful but hard-drinking wife Mary (Angelina Jolie), while Nick's wife Connie (Cate Blanchett) finds herself more than a bit intrigued by Russell. Pushing Tin was written by Glen Charles and Les Charles, who previously received notice for their television work on such series as M*A*S*H, Cheers and Taxi, and directed by British filmmaker Mike Newell, who's last project, Donnie Brasco, also took him into a little seen side of New York City. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Jake Weber - Barry Plotkin; Kurt Fuller - Ed Clabes; Matt Ross - Ron Hewitt; Jerry Grayson - Leo Morton; Michael Willis - Pat Feeney; Shaun Majumder
Credit
John Dondertman - Art Director, Marie-Sylvie Deveau - Costume Designer, David J.Webb - First Assistant Director, Mike Newell - Director, Philip Pfeiffer - Second Unit Director, Jon Gregory - Editor, Alan Greenspan - Executive Producer, Michael Flynn - Executive Producer, Anne Dudley - Composer (Music Score), Bruno Rubeo - Production Designer, Gale Tattersall - Cinematographer, Art Linson - Producer, Gordon White - Set Designer, Elis Lam - Set Designer, Clive Thomasson - Set Designer, VIFX - Special Effects, Blue Sky - Special Effects, Bruce Carwardine - Sound/Sound Designer, Les Charles - Screenwriter, Glen Charles - Screenwriter, Philip Pfeiffer - Second Unit Director Of Photography, Boyd Shermis - Visual Effects Supervisor
Pushing Tin is a 1999 comedy-drama film directed by Mike Newell. It centers on a cocky air traffic controller (John Cusack) who quarrels over proving "who's more of a man" with fellow employee Bell (Billy Bob Thornton). The film got mixed reviews, ranking 50% at Rotten Tomatoes[1], and opened #4 at the box office. It only grossed $8.4 Million in its US domestic run, despite an estimated cost of $33 Million.[2]
Nick "The Zone" Falzone and his fellow air traffic controllers at New York TRACON pride themselves on their ability to handle the intense stress of being a controller for one of the busiest airspaces in the country, even boasting of the 50% drop-out rate for new additions to the staff who are unable to cope with the pressure. The group is joined by the quiet and confident Russell Bell, a veteran of TRACONs in the Western United States. Russell quickly proves to be exceptionally capable of handling the increased workload by using unorthodox and risky methods. Nick feels challenged by the new controller's ability to out-perform him at seemingly every task and warns his supervisor that Bell is a loose cannon, especially after discovering that Russell once stood on a runway to allow himself to be violently propelled by a landing commercial airliner's jetwash.
At a supermarket, Nick encounters Russell's despondent young wife Mary, who is sobbing over a grocery cart full of alcohol. In consoling her, Nick ends up back at the Bell's house, where he and Mary both cheat on their respective spouses by sleeping with each other. A few days later, Mary informs Nick that she immediately told Russell about the affair, and that the confession has actually improved their marriage. Fearing retaliation, Nick confronts Russell at work, and is confused and surprised by Russell's even-tempered response to the situation. Meanwhile, Nick's wife Connie seems to become more and more intrigued by Russell, and Nick becomes increasingly paranoid that Russell will eventually seek revenge by sleeping with her. While out of town for his father-in-law's funeral, Nick can't bring himself to lie when a grieving Connie challenges him to say that he has never cheated on her. As their flight home approaches New York, Connie tells Nick that she has indeed slept with Russell. The plane then makes an odd turn, and Nick assumes that Russell is harassing him, or possibly going insane, by purposely directing the plane into a dangerous storm.
Soon after going to TRACON to confront Russell, a bomb threat is called into the center. The building is evacuated as both Nick and Russell volunteer to stay behind to handle the daunting task of landing all the planes on approach in their airspace before the alleged bomb is set to go off in 26 minutes. Successfully routing all but one plane that has lost radio contact, Nick leaves the building as the deadline approaches, while Russell instead remains inside to make contact with the plane by calling one of its passengers via Airfone. Russell is lauded as a hero for making the effort despite the threat, which turned out to be a hoax.
Russell abruptly quits and he and Mary move to Colorado. Connie leaves Nick, and his performance at work suffers; the once cocky, boastful controller is sent home after nearly being responsible for two mid-air collisions in one shift. After learning that Russell had ordered the diversion of Nick's flight not to provoke him, but to clear a path to make a plane with a medical emergency on board next in line for a landing, Nick impulsively drives out to Colorado to make amends with Russell. Nick seeks his advice on how to get his personal life back in order, but Russell is unable to make Nick understand with words. He instead brings Nick to a runway so that he too can experience being caught in a landing aircraft's turbulence. The two engage in the stunt together, and it has a profound effect on Nick, who thanks Russell. He returns to New York, where he regains his form at work, and reconciles with Connie.
