Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing movie, great cast
Review: Pushing Tin is a slang term used by air traffic controllers. It refers to moving all those commercial jetliners around the sky as they prepare for landing. It's well know that this is a high stress job. I would never consider it. I got stressed out just watching the controllers in Pushing Tin doing their jobs, and they were only actors. I have a hard enough time "landing" my car in our garage without taking out the trash cans.To enjoy this movie, you have to understand that it is a comedy. Even knowing that, the humor will prove too dry or sophisticated for some viewers' tastes. John Cusack plays Nick Falzone, a decent, dedicated guy who has been working in the air traffic control profession for fifteen years. His wife, Connie [Kate Blanchett], not only adores him, she understands how much pressure his job puts on him. Despite his attempts to maintain an even keel, it is obvious by watching him and his coworkers at work and play, that the balance is precarious at best. One day a new employee arrives. Russell Bell [Billy Bob Thornton] is a quiet, eccentric guy, who has never fit in anywhere a day in his life. He also has a work style that is unnerving to the other employees, especially Nick. Russell is much faster and more aggressive in lining up those big hunks of tin in the sky. This causes fiction between Nick and Russell, and soon a great competition ensues. The battle spill out of the workplace when Nick unwittingly gets too close to Russell's beautiful wife, Mary [Angelina Jolie]. Russell will prove to be the catalyst that sends Nick over the edge. There are scenes in Pushing Tin that are quite funny. There are others that are intense, especially the ones in which the possibility of a midair collision is real. Parts of it seem authentic. We see just how much power a controller has. A pilot has little choice but to fly his plane just as the controller instructs him to. Passengers are happily unaware that, in the landing procedure, the pilot isn't flying the craft. Someone on the ground is. The stars are all first-rate professionals. John Cusack has lit up the screen in independent classics such as The Grifters and The Player, as well as in big budget films like Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Billy Bob Thornton is on my short list of best actors working today. Cate Blanchett won an Oscar nomination for Elizabeth, and Angelina Jolie is an up and coming young actress. They try, but fail to overcome a script problem that is the movie's biggest weakness. Nick and Connie are finely drawn characters, but we never really get to know Russell and Mary, who are essential to the story. We know they are crazy, but, since their presence has such an impact on the other couple, it would be good to know why they behave the way they do. We are left in the dark, and this simply is not good writing. Pushing Tin fails in the character development area. Because of this, the film ends up being lightweight, rather than simply light.
Rating: 
Summary: Fans of offbeat comedies need only apply!
Review: I repeat, if and ONLY if you like (or interested in seeing) offbeat comedies, see Pushing Tin. People who like regular comedies will most likely think this is a strange movie. The best way to describe this film is to say its a dark comedy. The two lead characters are competitive air traffic control operators. They spend the majority of the film playing a twisted version of 'anything you can do, I can do better', with hilarious results. While the film does has funny momments, its not 'roll on the floor' humor, its more subtle. If you have a quirky sense of humor, give this film a try. If you're sense of humor is normal, you may not like it.
Rating: 
Summary: Push this pile of scrap metal into the recycling bin
Review: 1 1/2 stars. I am a huge John Cusack fan and really had high expectations of this movie, but was extremely disappointed. This movie is a drama with no significant humor - those people who found it funny can probably start gigling by flipping through a blank notepad. The main problem with this movie is that the central topic - being an air traffic controller - is simply not interesting to most people (apologies to the genuine controllers out there who do a great and valuable job). Arranging planes in three dimensions at an airport is just boring to watch and there is no sense of urgency or suspense to this movie at all. Watching the computer screens was like playing the world's most boring game for the orignal Atari. The dialogue between Cusack, Thornton and the pilots was supposed to be fast and witty, but came across being extremely forced. The so-called rivalry between Cusack and Thornton was equally forced. Rivalries work between cowboys or soldiers looking for the most glory and the attention of beautiful women, between stockbrokers seeking the most money or thrills, between politicians seeking power, and between athletes seeking the scoring title or new records. A rivalry between two air traffic controllers is neither viable nor compelling and is about as interesting as a 21 meal a week diet of plain oatmeal. I am not faulting the actors for this movie; by and large, they all did a decent job with what they had and are very talented thespians. The writing for this movie was simply bad, making the characters have either dull conversations or unrealistic ones. Thornton had nothing to work with to apply his great dramatic acting abilities and Cusack was similarly left out in the cold with regard to comedy. From the first five minutes of this movie, I wanted to shut it off, and that feeling grew stronger every minute until it ended. For me, the best part of this movie was the previews. Do yourself a favor and skip this dud.
Rating: 
Summary: A Buffet of Great Performances
Review: "Pushing Tin" is a well done comedy/drama that combines terrific acting with an original story. It depicts both the stressfull career as an air-traffic controller, and the personal problems of a particular controller (John Cusack). The movie starts off by giving you some details of what being a controller is like, and that pretty much lays the ground for the rest of the movie surrounding Cusack and his personal problems. John plays the best in the buisness, landing the most planes in the shortest time and more effectively. That is however until he runs into an out-of-state controller who seems just a little more adventurous, played by a dejected Billy-Bob Thornton. Thornton seems to be the more interesting and talented man, both on and off the job. Cusack now begins to fight Thornton in a sort of cold war, trying to out-do his collegue and regain his place on top of the mountain. That is until Cusack has an affair with Thornton's young and mysterious wife (Angelina Jolie), and then watches his life spiral downward with paranoia and hostility. A great supporting cast includes Cate Blanchette, who plays Cusack's wife, and several familiar-faced actors who play his joking co-workers. My favorite part about the movie was both the foreground and background dialogue, meaning you not only hear the main lines between certain characters, but also the small side comments and jokes that give the movie a more real-life appeal. Its very similar to Cusack's 2000 release "High Fidelity", which I think is a new and effective way of keeping people in tune with the movie...and not just like watching a stage act. The part that gets me is when you see Cusack relying on the man who tore his "in the zone" life apart, to help him get it back together. "Pushing Tin" is very much easy to relate to as far as relationships are concerned, adding a comic edge to deciet and extramarital affairs. And I dont think anyone will admit it, but everyone watching had to be surprised about what being an air-traffic controller involves. The opening quote from a real Long Island air-traffic controller really gets your attention and builds the foundation for the story. I myself bought this movie and I think its great to watch again and again for terrific acting and a hilarious script. John Cusack does it again.
Rating:
Summary: Pushing Tin is NOT a comedy
Review: Pushing Tin is most definitely NOT a comedy despite the studio's wish to put it in that category. But then what are they going to say: "This is a moderately depressing drama about the morbid competition between two air traffic controllers that nearly destroys both of them and their families"?
Rating: 
Summary: COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH BETTER
Review: Pushing Tin starts out great. It captures the very true-to-life quirkiness of air traffic controllers. John Cusack is totally believable in this role. And Cate Blanchett is amazing as his wife. However after Billy Bob Thornton appears on the scene as a rival air traffic controller with his voluptuous alcoholic wife (played by his now real life wife Angelina Jolie) things take a turn for the worse. The competition between Cusack and Thornton's characters gets to the point of being ridiculous and dangerous. Their infidelities and personal problems are just too out there. This film missed the mark but had really stellar beginnings. It could have been so much better.
Rating:
Summary: Most people are missing the point of this movie
Review: You guys have to remember that this movie is a comedy. It delivered in that category for me. The jet wash scenes were absolutely hilarious. The main theme of this movie is Attention Deficit Disorder and how some people have it and know it-Russell Bell- and how some people have it and don't know it-Nick Falzone. This is not apparent to all you regular folks out there but to me it was very obvious. I have ADD myself. There was hinting everywhere in the movie if you knew what to look for. I must admit that I really identified with Billy Bob Thornton's character because I'm almost exactly like him. The movie is basically saying, people are afraid of what they don't understand. It amazes me how I have to spell it out for some people.
Rating:
Summary: A waste of a good premise.
Review: What might have been an interesting and quirky exploration of the hidden subculture of air traffic controllers instead turns into a meandering, lost story that never decides what it wants to be. John Cusack is pretty much his reliable self in a nice-guy role that has become a cliche for him. Only Billy Bob Thornton's memorable performance redeems the film.
Rating:
Summary: Great Blend of Light & Dark Humor
Review: I hadn't heard anything about this movie before I saw it so I didn't expect anything other than the usual Hollywood silliness. I was absolutely delighted to find it a winner. I thought the basic depiction of the ATC's was accurate enough, keeping in mind that it was all exaggerated to make dramatic, humorous, and at times, farcical, points. I do agree that in real life there would have been an awful lot of 'say again's in response to Falzone's super-efficient instruction, and my suspension-of-disbelief ability got a bit strained at times. However, it's not a documentary. The ATC background is a set-up for the character-driven plot, and all the characters are multi-dimensional and wonderful, including all the supporting players, and I understood and loved them all. John Cusack is terrific as the tightly-controlled controller Falzone, and Billy Bob Thornton is hilariously morbid as the completely-in-control Russell Bell who gets on, and frays, Falzone's last nerve. Angelina Jolie is perfect as the spiraling-out-of-control tarty lush, as is Cate Blanchett as the housewife who's trying to retain control with her 'life of the mind' evening classes. I didn't love the hokey ending, and I'm not saying it was the best movie I've ever seen, but as a comedy that managed to capture human strengths and frailties, not to mention paranoia, it was great.
Rating:
Summary: GLADIATORS IN THE CONTROL TOWER!
Review: So who's really in charge of the skys? This is an exciting, electrifying behind the scenes look at the air traffic controllers at work and at play. The play overlaps into active duty when two competitors vie for wives, lives, and how many airplanes they can safely stack up in minute corridors of air space. The one-ups manship leads to some heart- stopping moments. John Cusack is brilliant and Billy Bob Thornton is dynamite. The screen explodes with tension as these two take over. Enjoyable and entertaining. Hang on to your seat belts. Ever ride the air turbulence behind a 747 jet?
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