Pushing Tin

Pushing Tin is really two movies in one. The first shows the behind the scenes banter and interplay between air traffic controllers at a facility on Long Island as they guide jets, a.k.a. "pushing tin," coming into Newark, LaGuardia, and JFK airports. For this portion, the movie climbs to cruising altitude.

The second features a pointless inter-office rivalry between two controllers that spills over into each other’s marriages. The movie begins a rapid descent and nearly crash lands. How bad is it? Like being on a bumpy plane ride, every five minutes I looked at my watch to figure how much longer I had to go.

Based on a newspaper article about the stressful lives of air traffic controllers, Pushing Tin introduces us to the exploits of Nick Falzone (John Cusack), a crackerjack controller who goes by the moniker, "The Zone." Nick’s air space is intruded by a newcomer, Russell Bell (Billy Bob Thornton), a mysterious hotshot with a foxy young wife (Angelina Jolie).

Nick forgets his marital vows to wife Connie (Cate Blanchett of Elizabeth) and spends the night with Russell’s wife. The movie takes a nose dive when the hanky panky is exposed.

The scene that will have you clawing for an air sickness bag features Connie in a jet airliner’s cockpit talking on the plane’s radio transmitter to an apologetic Nick on the ground. Evidently there are no FAA regulations banning such in-flight activity. The crew sits there smiling as though they’re all experiencing high altitude gas cramps. You’ll think the projectionist has switched reels from a Leslie Nielsen movie.

Then there’s the scene where Nick and Russell bond by squatting together on a runway and being thrown through the air from the turbulence of a 747 coming in for a landing. Like most of this movie, it’s so ridiculous, airline food and lost luggage are more palatable.