PUSHING TIN

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 2 out of 5

Because of: nudity, adultery, language

Rated:

Nick Falzone (John Cusack) has the life that everyone wants. One of the most highly-revered flight coordinators at the airport, it's his job to direct airplanes safely home. All of his coworkers and friends think he's "the man," and call him "No Fly Zone." He has a gorgeous, talented, wonderful wife named Connie (Cate Blanchett) and two darling children. Everything is marvelous until the new guy flies into town. Known as a daredevil for his ridiculous stunts (including purposefully being hurled sixty feet by jet turbulence on an Arizona runway), Russell Bell (Billy Bob Thornton) has a black leather jacket, a motorcycle, and the attitude to match.

After nearly running Nick off the road on the way to work, the two immediately start off at odds. Anything Nick can do, Russell can do better. If Nick makes seventeen straight hoops at a barbeque, Russell will make eighteen. If Nick tries to impress by driving fast, Russell will jam his foot down on the gas petal and up the speed. The battle of testosterone increases when Nick is introduced to Russell's gorgeous, booze-drinking wife Mary (Angelina Jolie). He finds her sobbing over the death of her favorite plant in the frozen food section of the local grocery store, takes her out to dinner in order to cheer her up, and after one too many drinks, winds up cheating with her. They agree to keep it a secret from Russell, in the likelihood that he will kill Nick, but the truth leaks out, and Russell makes it his purpose in life to ruin Nick.

The best way to repay a debt is to do the same thing in return: namely, creating rampant paranoia by Nick toward Connie's friendship with Russell. What transpires is a lot of hurt feelings, more than one ironic situation, plenty of laughs, and ultimately the message that life and love are two things that you need to work at. The film really doesn't have a bottom line worth mentioning, since it's basically just an adulterous romp with particularly interesting consequences. Overall the movie is making fun of itself, and that's what keeps it entertaining when the plot takes an immoral turn. The characters are all likable despite their faults, and the actors turn in admirable performances. Several humorous scenes involve various dangerous stunts, while others rely on the sardonic circumstances of the moment to draw out a snicker.

For an R-rated movie, the sexual content is kept only to implications. Nick and Connie presumably have a fling when he gets home from work, but the only thing shown is some passionate kissing and his wife getting dressed afterward. His adulterous tryst with Mary isn't shown, but the following scene has them laying beside one another in bed. Several close-up shots have partial breast nudity, with a nipple showing. There are some sexual remarks and slang, one of which a child repeats in the indication that he knows what it means. Violence is limited to pranks, a couple of fistfights, and near plane collision. Language consists of around twenty f-words, several abuses of Jesus' name, some mild profanity, and four uses of GD. The only Christian content is an off the cuff reference to being baptized in an effort to cleanse your life; Nick replies that he doesn't want to hear any Sunday school bull****.

One thing that disconcerts me a little bit is how cavalier the characters create the context of matrimony. Connie takes her husband's infidelity very seriously, and it very nearly ruins their marriage. Nick experiences a lot of guilt over the brief fling, but it's never clear whether it's actual remorse on doing something like that, or just concern that it will damage his relationship with his wife. Mary says that Russell really doesn't care what she does with other men. Their marriage actually improves after the fling, because it forces him to pay more attention to her. The whole thing is a joke, and it does become funny throughout the course of events, but Christians will find it difficult to root for such obviously immoral characters.

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