Pushing Tin
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: April 23, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
18
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
San Francisco ExaminerG. Allen Johnson
It succeeds because of the frenzied, kinetic direction by Mike Newell, one of the most interesting big-hit directors. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick 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. Read full review
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. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger 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. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Almost always a pleasure to watch. Pushing Tin is, essentially, a western -- Cusack really is the fastest gun in the West. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Uneven but fitfully entertaining.
63
Chicago TribuneMichael 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 TimesJanet Maslin
Newell's ensemble timing and breezily sardonic style make it work better than might be expected. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth 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. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubNathan 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 Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Makes you wish that Newell and company had had the gumption to finish what they so enticingly started. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid 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. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
Top-flight cast.
50
Austin ChronicleMarc 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. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames 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. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Barely rates faint praise. Read full review
50
VarietyTodd 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. Read full review
50
NewsweekDavid 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. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan 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. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverHal 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. Read full review
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam 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. Read full review
40
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Pushing Tin pivots on our dubious fascination with professional erection duels, which are a sad substitute for dramatic conflict. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Contrived, meandering, clichéd and just plain preposterous. Read full review
40
TimeRichard Corliss
Tin tailspins into silliness and never regains its flight pattern. Read full review
40
The New YorkerDavid Denby
The clichéd macho silliness of the picture gets to be infuriating after a while. Read full review
30
The New RepublicStanley 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. Read full review
30
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The movie's fundamental problem is that Cusack's character isn't very interesting. Read full review
30
Film ThreatAnthony Miele
Uneven, unfocused and boring. It is listed as a "black comedy" and while there are humorous moments you will not be laughing much. Read full review
20
Washington PostDesson 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. Read full review
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