I liked this film- I saw it to catch a bit player Larry Holden - but Charles and Heche make this a passable romantic movie. It was just offbeat enough- romance between a sky jockey and a modern dancer to be appealing... and the side bar- the lusty landlady added to the humor... a nice variant to boy loves girl, boy loses girl and then gets her back....
13 Reviews
Unreleased theatrical feature is quirky but has no punch
moonspinner5521 November 2007
Josh Charles is wonderful as a young man obsessed with...traffic? He longs to be a traffic reporter in the sky, but first finds on-again/off-again love with a perplexing Anne Heche (she's so flaky he can't get a grip on her, and neither can we). John Goodman has a funny supporting role, and the production values are first-rate, but this is short-film material stretched out far too long. Terrific cast includes Dey Young, Christine Lahti, and Brent Spiner, but each has very little to do, and the film is flattened out by an overall lack of imagination and by its length. More cleverness was obviously needed; there's not enough substance here for the picture to stay the course. ** from ****
Realistic, yet farcical, touching romance.
Ian-1002 August 1999
This is an imaginative movie, with elements of the slightly farcical movies of the '80's (Secret of my Success, you know the sort of thing). It's saved from mediocrity and anachronism by a sort of twisted realism caused by disjointed, surprising plot changes/devices. This is also evident in the sex scenes (with a sort of "left a bit"/"can we... move down the bed" approach) which makes the romance element all the more touching.
Josh Charles (Threesome, Dead Poets Society) delivers a traffic metaphor heavy Kevin Bacon (in She's Having a Baby)-esque narration competently, while Anne Heche manages to pull off being equally expressive, beautiful and serene. It's very hard not to love her in this movie, should you let yourself fall into the sap trap.
It's a striking film, touching and witty. Feelgood? Yeah, I guess I feel alright.
Josh Charles (Threesome, Dead Poets Society) delivers a traffic metaphor heavy Kevin Bacon (in She's Having a Baby)-esque narration competently, while Anne Heche manages to pull off being equally expressive, beautiful and serene. It's very hard not to love her in this movie, should you let yourself fall into the sap trap.
It's a striking film, touching and witty. Feelgood? Yeah, I guess I feel alright.
Offbeat romantic comedy...John Goodman is great!
inkblot1117 July 2003
Is love like a traffic flow, sometimes running smoothly, sometimes stalled and going nowhere? That's what Charlie (Josh Charles) thinks. Charlie has two great loves: traffic/traffic reporting and Amy (Anne Heche). Having met as children, the boy and the dance-loving girl meet again as teenagers and explore the wonders of first love. Yet, they are headed in two different directions, for college and otherwise. A break-up is inevitable. Years later, Charlie has traveled to Los Angeles to work at a television station and meets Amy again at a local coffee shop. She is a waitress, involved with a modern dance group in her spare time. Unfortunately, Amy is cold to the idea of rekindling the relationship and tries to discourage Charlie. Will he win her over or concentrate more on his career?
This is an offbeat romantic comedy. The swirl of characters surrounding the two leads are all a bit unusual but provide some laughs. John Goodman is wonderful as a famous traffic reporter. Heche gives a petulant performance which is very attractive at times and a bit offputting at others. Fans of movies a little less ordinary should be pleased with this effort. Others may find it pleasant but not particularly memorable.
This is an offbeat romantic comedy. The swirl of characters surrounding the two leads are all a bit unusual but provide some laughs. John Goodman is wonderful as a famous traffic reporter. Heche gives a petulant performance which is very attractive at times and a bit offputting at others. Fans of movies a little less ordinary should be pleased with this effort. Others may find it pleasant but not particularly memorable.
cute movie with some good scenes
awlauter25 February 2001
I saw this movie probably 3 years ago and thought it was pretty good. Josh Charles does a nice job as a traffic controller in a small town who dreams of landing a big job in a big city. The movie details his life, more or less if I remember correctly. Great song by Rusted Root is featured in the movie (send me on my way).
Complete, human garbage...
veekman28 January 2006
Now, that may sound harsh. But hear me out. This is the story of a guy, Josh Charles, who is in love with 2 things: Traffic and Anne Heche. He isn't just in love with traffic, he is obsessed with the "greatest traffic reporter of all time" played by John Goodman. As stupid, and insipid as that sounds...It gets worse. Heche is some type of experimental dancer who captures the main character's heart. How does she do it, you ask? By being an idiot and dancing on top on a bridge railing, then falling into his arms.
I saw this "movie" on HBO when HBO stood for "Hey Beastmaster's On." I regret every minute that I waited for this to better. It didn't. What's worse, they showed it constantly for a month. I mean why not, they're practically giving away the cable rights. True story: I was at a famous NYC Video/DVD chain. I came across an entire section of discounted DVD's and Videos. They had over 200 VHS copies of "Pie in the Sky", each with the label "2 for 99 cents." The DVD's were buy 1, get 1 free. No other DVD/VHS was selling for this cheap. I can only hope the idiot that ordered all the copies got fired. Or worse, he was forced to watch them all, one after the other.
If you put 10'000 brain broken monkeys in a room with 10'000 broken type writers, they could write a movie that kicks the crap out of this piece of crap. And that's a lot of crap! I mean, no wonder Anne Heche went nuts shortly after this movie. I almost went on a killing spree 15 minutes into this pile of human garbage.
The "acting" and "directing" also seem like they could have been better had the responsibility been delegated to one of the smarter mammals on the planet. Maybe a dolphin. Or a really smart seal that could also perform tricks. Now that's entertainment! This movie is like a fraternity prank gone horribly wrong. AVOID THIS FILM LIKE THE PLAGUE!
I saw this "movie" on HBO when HBO stood for "Hey Beastmaster's On." I regret every minute that I waited for this to better. It didn't. What's worse, they showed it constantly for a month. I mean why not, they're practically giving away the cable rights. True story: I was at a famous NYC Video/DVD chain. I came across an entire section of discounted DVD's and Videos. They had over 200 VHS copies of "Pie in the Sky", each with the label "2 for 99 cents." The DVD's were buy 1, get 1 free. No other DVD/VHS was selling for this cheap. I can only hope the idiot that ordered all the copies got fired. Or worse, he was forced to watch them all, one after the other.
If you put 10'000 brain broken monkeys in a room with 10'000 broken type writers, they could write a movie that kicks the crap out of this piece of crap. And that's a lot of crap! I mean, no wonder Anne Heche went nuts shortly after this movie. I almost went on a killing spree 15 minutes into this pile of human garbage.
The "acting" and "directing" also seem like they could have been better had the responsibility been delegated to one of the smarter mammals on the planet. Maybe a dolphin. Or a really smart seal that could also perform tricks. Now that's entertainment! This movie is like a fraternity prank gone horribly wrong. AVOID THIS FILM LIKE THE PLAGUE!
(Very) quirky rom-com
smatysia5 January 2020
A lot of things were done right in this film. Decent production values, unobtrusive direction, a pretty good cast doing as good of a job as possible with the material. All of the main characters are quirky, maybe too much so. Anne Heche and Christine Lahti looked great. But overall, it bored me and left me cold. Let this sleeping dog lie.
The Film that launched a fruitless crush.
Jimmy-4213 February 1999
I had a great time with this well done, quirky film. My crush on Anne Heche started with her engaging performance in this piece. The crush is no more, but my admiration for the movie, (and Ms. Heche), remains. The film is sweet without becoming saccharine. I recommend it.
Simply okay
=G=5 September 2002
"Pie in the Sky", an ill-focused, occasionally clumsy, and always good natured little romantic comedy, tells of a dauntless young man, Charlie (Charles), who is consumed with two things: Working as the "eye in the sky" for L.A.'s Metro Traffic (a traffic reporting bureau) and working on his relationship with his girl friend (Heche). There is as little to fault in this film as there is to praise making it recommendable by default but also keeping it from scoring high marks. An okay diversion for sofa spuds but not worth a trip to the video store. (C-)
I enjoyed this movie for it's individual performances
cpmailings2 January 2006
1. Christine Lahti is almost always worth seeing (you'll have to wait until about the middle of the movie...but it's worth the wait. In a "Mrs. Robinson"-type role, she is seductive yet wholesome, and she helps send the movie's hero, "Charlie," back out into his own life and seemingly-unattainable romance.
2. Josh Charles plays a wonderfully idealistic young man chasing the career of his dreams and the girl of his dreams, starting as a young boy.
3. Anne Hesche plays Charlie's love interest as a quirky but likable young woman aspiring to a career as a modern dancer.
4. John Goodman is great as the lifelong hero Charlie has chosen to emulate and, if possible, work with.
2. Josh Charles plays a wonderfully idealistic young man chasing the career of his dreams and the girl of his dreams, starting as a young boy.
3. Anne Hesche plays Charlie's love interest as a quirky but likable young woman aspiring to a career as a modern dancer.
4. John Goodman is great as the lifelong hero Charlie has chosen to emulate and, if possible, work with.
lack-lustre romance - more quirk than substance
bob the moo8 October 2001
Some have described this as a sort of "When Harry Met Sally" for the West Coast, mainly because the two lovers meet repeatedly over the course of years. In this respect the two are similar but not in any other way.
The director's first feature is a reasonable romantic comedy about two "kooks" that fall in love whilst trying to find their respective dreams in live. Josh Charles dreams of being a traffic reporter like his idol John Goodman. Anne Heche dreams of a career in dance. The film follows their love affair from childhood to adulthood in LA.
The film tries to make the characters interesting by giving them quirks. Charles' interest in traffic is quite well explained but still seems strangely unlikely. The other characters don't fit their actions at all and aren't developed well - from Heche to Goodman they all seem to be written as "quirky" to be interesting, while their actions are written to move the story along.
The story tries to draw the traffic element into some sort of metaphor for life & love but again it doesn't really fit. Even the soundtrack, despite containing good songs, is the usual fare for this type of romantic film.
Overall a poorly developed film that never really convinces - from the quirks, the performances and the ending. Only the scenery and the idea of traffic as a metaphor for love is there to hold the interest.
The director's first feature is a reasonable romantic comedy about two "kooks" that fall in love whilst trying to find their respective dreams in live. Josh Charles dreams of being a traffic reporter like his idol John Goodman. Anne Heche dreams of a career in dance. The film follows their love affair from childhood to adulthood in LA.
The film tries to make the characters interesting by giving them quirks. Charles' interest in traffic is quite well explained but still seems strangely unlikely. The other characters don't fit their actions at all and aren't developed well - from Heche to Goodman they all seem to be written as "quirky" to be interesting, while their actions are written to move the story along.
The story tries to draw the traffic element into some sort of metaphor for life & love but again it doesn't really fit. Even the soundtrack, despite containing good songs, is the usual fare for this type of romantic film.
Overall a poorly developed film that never really convinces - from the quirks, the performances and the ending. Only the scenery and the idea of traffic as a metaphor for love is there to hold the interest.
A movie so sweet you just have to buy it
larserik-219 October 1999
Okey! Get ready for a really good movie, this one is one of the best I've seen, and I'm quite tricky about choosing god from bad movies. Trust me on this, the story, actors, setting, it's all so complete.. Be sure to get this movie and spend a night wathing it with someone you care about. Humor and Romance..
Interesting Line
sdccc7 September 2004
Having worked for Metro Traffic (the organization whose LA office is featured in the film) for 20 years, I got I big chuckle out of Josh Charles' line, "After all, who wouldn't want to work for Metro Traffic."
If I remember correctly, producers of this film contacted our then-CEO David Saperstein about using the company in the film and he was glad to oblige. David and his wife, Suzanne, had recently been featured on "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." The scenes at the Metro Traffic Control office in LA were actually filmed on location there and not a movie set. I've had fun over the past few years loaning my copy of this flick to fellow employees and noting their varied reactions.
I actually have encountered employees in this company who have the same obsession with traffic as Charles' character. And, thank goodness I'm not one of them. I have a real life.
If I remember correctly, producers of this film contacted our then-CEO David Saperstein about using the company in the film and he was glad to oblige. David and his wife, Suzanne, had recently been featured on "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." The scenes at the Metro Traffic Control office in LA were actually filmed on location there and not a movie set. I've had fun over the past few years loaning my copy of this flick to fellow employees and noting their varied reactions.
I actually have encountered employees in this company who have the same obsession with traffic as Charles' character. And, thank goodness I'm not one of them. I have a real life.
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