Part of the reason the movie's so fascinating early on is that it takes you inside the aggressively insular, high-octane world of air-traffic controllers. Cusack's Nick Falzone is the big dog in this world, spitting out words faster than one would like to think is humanly possible ("What is human and what is inhuman is not a human decision" -- one of the best lines from Boom!). But uh-oh, here comes Billy Bob Thornton as the new controller with a reputation for being the best, and let the pissing match begin. You're just waiting for these guys to step up to a ruler, drop trou, and whip 'em out for comparison.
So far, so good -- macho posturing is nearly always amusing (in the movies, anyway). But it's shortly after this that Cusack's character does a very bad thing, and that's when the movie starts to flag and droop. It never really recaptures the tense yet loopy energy of the first half, the plot takes some idiotic twists, and the saccharine ending is pretty unpalatable. Plus, the macho posturing turns into Iron-John bonding -- and that crap gets old REALLY fast. Cusack and Angelina Jolie, as Thornton's wife, are both excellent -- Jolie is quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses, although the size of her lips really, really bothers me -- I keep hoping someone will tell her to put some ice on them so the swelling will go down. Cate Blanchett, as Cusack's wife, is underwhelming, and Thornton affects a stoic blankness that's supposed to be Zen, but instead comes off more as idiot savant.
I guess I'd recommend this despite its shortcomings. There are worse movies out there (aren't there always?), though you wouldn't be missing anything by waiting for it to come out on video, either. Still, the first half is terrific, the second half has some decent moments, and, of couse, it's got John Cusack. And, really, shouldn't that be enough?
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