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Pushing Tin
20th Century Fox Film Corporation
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for language and a scene of sexuality
Starring
John Cusack,
Billy Bob Thornton,
Cate Blanchett,
Angelina Jolie,
Jake Weber,
Kurt Fuller,
Vicki Lewis,
and
Matt Ross
An intense rivalry develops between two air traffic controllers (Cusack, Thornton) that threatens both their careers and marriages.
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Glen Charles
Les Charles
Darcy Frey (article Something's Got To Give)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Mike Newell
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: September 3, 2002
Video: April 4, 2000
Theatrical: April 23, 1999
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
124 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA / Germany |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
75
San Francisco Examiner
G. Allen Johnson
It succeeds because of the frenzied, kinetic direction by Mike Newell, one of the most interesting big-hit directors.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
Takes viewers into a unique world. It's not just about air traffic controllers. It's about controllers in a specific place and from a specific social background.
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
An entertaining takeoff and a high-altitude ride eventually runs into some bumpy weather and a clumsy landing in Mike Newell's new comedy.
75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
The movie is worth seeing, for the good stuff. I'm recommending it because of the performances and the details in the air-traffic control center.
70
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
Almost always a pleasure to watch. Pushing Tin is, essentially, a western -- Cusack really is the fastest gun in the West.
63
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
Uneven but fitfully entertaining.
63
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
One of the most discouraging things about many big studio movies is the way they waste resources, mainly talent and money. Pushing Tin manages to waste an excellent cast, a glossy production and what initially seems to be a bright, funny script. [23 April 1999, Friday, p.A]
60
The New York Times
Elvis Mitchell
Newell's ensemble timing and breezily sardonic style make it work better than might be expected.
60
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Nathan Rabin
A mess, but for the most part it's a fascinating mess. It helps that it boasts great acting all around--not just from Cusack, Thornton, and Jolie, but also from Cate Blanchett
60
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
It's an intriguing film, one of the year's most interesting, but involving as much of it is, it leaves an unsatisfied taste when it's over.
58
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
Makes you wish that Newell and company had had the gumption to finish what they so enticingly started.
50
New York Magazine
Peter Rainer
Barely rates faint praise.
50
Newsweek
David Ansen
You're not sure where it's headed, but with an ensemble this good the aimlessness seems invigorating. It's when the plot kicks in that Newell's movie gets less interesting. It's frustrating to see such a promising premise, and such a delightful cast, wasted.
50
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
The only thing that keeps the proceedings bearable is the cast gamely rolling with all the shameless sitcom punches the script keeps throwing at them.
50
Dallas Observer
Hal Hinson
Ultimately, though, it is Angelina Jolie who ends up stealing the show. As Mary, she lets her eyelids droop and her lower lip swell as if she were just so full of sex that she's almost drunk.
50
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
The premise is inherently interesting, but the screenplay (by Glen & Les Charles) is unwilling to take chances. Instead, it uses stock events to push events forward.
50
Variety
Todd McCarthy
Unfortunately, story's tension climaxes a half-hour before the film is over, and thereafter dissipates much of the charge and good will generated up to that point.
50
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Bids for originality by focusing on an offbeat profession. Every other aspect is pretty stale, though, from the smart-alecky characters to the romantic-triangle plot.
50
USA Today
Mike Clark
Top-flight cast.
50
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
It's a glorious mess, though, with genuine bits of comic genius strewn amidst the rubble, not unlike a plane crash in its own way.
42
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
Does have one saving grace, however. As Nick's long-suffering wife, Blanchett gives the movie some badly needed charisma, and its one point of sympathy -- even nobility.
40
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
Contrived, meandering, clichéd and just plain preposterous.
40
Village Voice
Michael Atkinson
Pushing Tin pivots on our dubious fascination with professional erection duels, which are a sad substitute for dramatic conflict.
40
Time
Richard Corliss
Tin tailspins into silliness and never regains its flight pattern.
40
The New Yorker
David Denby
The clichéd macho silliness of the picture gets to be infuriating after a while.
30
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
The movie's fundamental problem is that Cusack's character isn't very interesting.
30
Film Threat
Anthony Miele
Uneven, unfocused and boring. It is listed as a "black comedy" and while there are humorous moments you will not be laughing much.
30
The New Republic
Stanley Kauffmann
Not every stupid film sets out to be that way. But a furious zeal to entertain, especially to find twists, can push filmmakers past credibility, past twist, even past social decency. A dreadful example is Pushing Tin.
20
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
A fast-paced, twisty-turny, high-fiving, but ultimately spiraling disaster of a movie about air traffic controllers, gets lost in this hyperbolic cloud cover, never to be found again.
 The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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