Billy Bob's Filmography

PUSHING TIN (1999)

Movie Quote
RUSSELL:  You either make it, or you don't.

Plot
Hotshot Nick Falzone (John Cusack) is at the top of his game, holding one of the most complex and stressful jobs imaginable:  he's an air traffic controller, managing New York and New Jersey hubs with thousands of lives depending on his clear-eyed judgment to land them safely every day.  Nick's world does a 180 hard bank with the arrival of stoic Russell Bell (Billy Bob), a man whose aerodynamic wrangling powers are borderline voodoo.  Russell's flight-pattern prowess kicks up Nick's competitive streak at work, and things hit major turbulence when Nick beds Mary (Angelina Jolie), Russell's neglected, bombshell wife.  Australia's national treasure, Cate Blanchett, does a sweet take as Cusack's guileless, Long Island-bred wife, whom Russell threatens to seduce in retaliation.  

What Billy Bob Gets To Do
Russell Bell is the Zen-master Native American air traffic controller, stringing them purty 747s and DC-10s like threading beads across his radar screen.  Look for BBT's song stylings on such '70s drek as If and Muskrat Love. Yes. Muskrat Love.  Thrill to Billy Bob's deadpan delivery of the line "Oh, good. It's open." Suffer instant stress incontinence when you hear school kids on John Cusack's TV singing Russell Bell to the tune of Jingle Bells. Marvel at Billy Bob and John Cusack's rapid-fire recitation of flight control coordinates that make Fed Ex's old motormouth pitchman sound downright pokey. Dare we say the performance is truly a feather in his cap? 

Backstory
Glen and Les Charles (those urbane wits behind the classic sitcom CHEERS) based the screenplay on an article by Darcy Frey about the high stress lives of air traffic controllers, titled Something's Gotta Give and published in the New York Times Sunday Magazine .  Prior to Billy Bob's work in MONSTER'S BALL, most of Billy Bob's female fans designated Russell Bell as their favorite heartthrob (and we're still wondering about that one fan who says she's hot for Darrell from U-TURN).  While filming in Toronto, Billy Bob visited his favorite tattoo artist Damon Rowanchilde and got this beauty.  Of course, during production, Billy Bob met Angelina Jolie, and the rest is history. 

Awards (for PUSHING TIN)
Casting Society of America (Artios, Best Casting, Feature Film, Comedy, Ellen Chenoweth) - 1999 - Nomination
Motion Picture Sound Editors (Golden Reel Award, Best Sound Editing, Foreign Feature) - 2000 - Nomination

Relevant Links
IMDb Link
Official Site
Yahoo! Movies Upcomingmovies.com preview page
Bomis inks to several PUSHING TIN sites
MovieWeb review
TV Guide review
MQRE links to PUSHING TIN reviews
Star Pulse links, but no review or summary
National Air Traffic Controllers Association (in case you need a career change)

Related Merchandise
Anne Dudley, an Oscar^®-winner and one of the few women scoring films these days, composed the soundtrack (ripe with fun harmonica riffs) available on Restless Records.