Pushing Tin

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Uneven but fitfully entertaining.

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]

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

Newell's ensemble timing and breezily sardonic style make it work better than might be expected.

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

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.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Makes you wish that Newell and company had had the gumption to finish what they so enticingly started.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

Barely rates faint praise.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

USA Today Mike Clark

Top-flight cast.

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.

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.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Contrived, meandering, clichéd and just plain preposterous.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

Pushing Tin pivots on our dubious fascination with professional erection duels, which are a sad substitute for dramatic conflict.

Time Richard Corliss

Tin tailspins into silliness and never regains its flight pattern.

The New Yorker David Denby

The clichéd macho silliness of the picture gets to be infuriating after a while.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

The movie's fundamental problem is that Cusack's character isn't very interesting.

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.

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.

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.