Air traffic controller uncredited john carroll lynch. Where were you when john cusack and billy bob thornton headlined a movie about air traffic controllers. The intense world of air traffic controllers is played for both drama and laughs in pushing tin. Pushing tin dvd, 2009, checkpoint sensormatic widescreen. She was a hit as the love interest in the offbeat air traffic controller drama pushing tin 1999, with john cusack, but it was winning an oscar for her supporting role as a troubled mental patient in the 1999 winona ryder film girl, interrupted that made her a bigtime movie star. Watch pushing tin streaming online hulu free trial. The scenes in the air traffic control are excellent. Billy bob thorntons 10 best movies movie and tv news. How accurate is the film pushing tin about air traffic. To be an air traffic controller is exhausting as a tiny little mistake can endanger thousands of lives. Billy bob thornton full list of movies and tv shows in theaters, in production and upcoming films. Thornton was an air traffic controller at the federal aviation administration in elgin, illinois. Unsurprisingly, this is a weird flick, known more for the batshit public relationship of billy bob and angelina jolie than its actual existence. Nick falzone john cusack is the busiest, and the best, air traffic controller on long island until russell bell billy bob thornton roars into town like a motorcycleriding cowboy.
I expected pushing tin to be only of interest for people like myself who have an interest in the world of air travel. Billy bob thornton comes along and outmachos him both in the controlroom and on the basketball court, and also happens to have the sluttiest wife in the history of cinema. Pushing tin is a 1999 american comedydrama film directed by mike newell. Two air traffic controllers john cusack and billy bob thornton go head to head in both their work and personal lives. The character, in a darkly humorous way, is sort of zenlike, says thornton, and. John cusack, billy bob thornton, cate blanchett, angelina jolie. Nick falzone is the best controller around, but the arrival of a taciturn man with native blood undermines nicks perfect world. Nick falzone john cusack is the best air traffic controller in the business. Instead, i was pleased to discover an original and intense relational drama. Atc scene from the movie pushing tin angry new york atc argues with aer lingus pilot atc audio duration. Nick the zone falzone a loquacious john cusack has it all.
He also returned to his duties behind the camera, directing, writing, and starring in daddy and them, a comedy drama about the ups and downs of an eccentric alabama family. Thornton is a atlh under the faa air traffic controller compensatn pl payscale. Beverly hills hillbilly billy bob thornton won an oscar for sling blade and stole the show in pushing tin. In celebration of the latter achievement, playing out in this weekends bad santa 2, we turn our attention to mr. I met the guy that john cusacks character is very loosely based on.
Billy bob thornton and john cusack both play to type but it works. Lets hope that americas air traffic controllers can steer a. Cocky airtraffic controller john cusacks expertise is challenged by ultracool newcomer billy bob thornton in this comedy. John cusack and billy bob thornton play two air traffic controllers who are prickly and complex, who take hold of a scene and shake it awake and make it live, only to be brought down by a simpering series of happy endings. Pushing tin 1999 two air traffic controllers john cusack, billy bob thornton who thrive on living dangerously compete to outdo each other on several levels. Billy bob thornton list of movies and tv shows tv guide. Fueled by caffeine and machismo, the two men embark upon an uproarious contest of wit and wills that can ultimately only have one winner. He is therefore rattled by the arrival of a laidback and supercool rival, in the form of russell bell billy bob thornton. John cusack and billy bob thornton play two airtraffic controllers who are prickly and complex, who take hold of a scene and shake it awake and make it live, only to be brought down by a simpering series of happy endings. John cusack plays a macho air traffic controller for the new york metro area who thinks hes gods gift to pilots.
Join sign up keep track of your favorite shows and movies, across all your devices. Plot tracon, the air traffic control center of long island, operates the daily 7,000 flights of all new yorks airports. John cusack plays nick falzone, the top air traffic controller at new yorks terminal radar. A feud develops between two air traffic controllers. Billy bob thornton talks air traffic controllers in. Billy bob thornton and john cusack are competitive adversaries in the control tower in the greater nyc area and work things out the hard way in their pressurecooker job as atc controllers.
Cusack stars as a hotshot air traffic controller whose top dog status is threatened by the arrival of the equally gifted but enigmatic billy bob thornton. Pushing tin 1999 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Like an overloaded airplane struggling to lift off, the characters in pushing tin leap free of the runway, only to be pulled back down by the plot. It centers on nick falzone john cusack, a cocky air traffic controller who quarrels over proving whos more of a man with fellow employee russell bell billy bob thornton. With john cusack, billy bob thornton, cate blanchett, angelina jolie. Billy bob thornton biography, movie highlights and. Billy bob cowrote one false move, which, at heart, is a clash of two cultures. As the rivalry between the two increases, they find themselves acting out ever more dangerous stunts, much to the outrage of the authorities. Fly boys john cusack and billy bob thornton play cowboys and indians in the air traffic control comedy pushing tin. Cusacks mounting rivalry with the inscrutable thornton eventually consumes his personal life as he falls prey to thorntons sexy wife angelina jolie and his marriage to cate blanchett gradually disintegrates. Into nicks world comes russell bell billy bob thornton, a halfindian flight controller and stoic nut job from out west, who wears a feather in his hair i kid you not and pushes the envelope. John cusack plays nick falzone, the top air traffic controller at new yorks terminal radar approach control tracon center, where he negotiates air traffic and landing patterns for the kennedy, laguardia and newark airports, americas most congested airspace. The following year, thornton starred in mike newells pushing tin 1999, a comedy about two dueling air traffic controllers thornton and john cusack.
The film is fun and weird and dark in some ways, but what makes this even more interesting is seeing how much has changed since 911. Thornton is starring as a mysterious air traffic controller in his latest movie, pushing tin,opening april 23. For at least an hour, there is hope that the movie will amount to something singular. Billy bob thornton born august 4, 1955 is an american actor, writer, director, and musician thornton had his first break when he cowrote and starred in the 1992 thriller one false move, and received international attention after writing, directing, and starring in the independent drama film sling blade 1996, for which he won an academy award for best adapted screenplay and was.