I MADE A SIMPLE PLAN AND PUSHING TIN BACK TO BACK. IN FACT, I only had like a week off in between those movies, so I kind of pair those movies together in terms of that period of my life. Pushing Tin is where Angie and I first really got to know each other. It was also the first time I worked with John Cusack, who’s just great to work with, and with whom I also later did The Ice Harvest. And then, of course, there was the great Cate Blanchett. Pushing Tin didn’t do great. I think it was three-quarters of a great movie and the last twenty minutes or so, not so much—like some of the critics said, it took off but it didn’t land. But I loved the experience and think the part of the movie that was good was terrific. John and I even went to air traffic control school for the film up there in Toronto, where we filmed. We had to, because you can’t spout all that stuff out if you haven’t been to school for it. We had a great instructor who was really good to us and took us out on the floor to watch real air traffic controllers. Just so you know, if you’re ever going to Newark, New Jersey, and something happens to the controller, I can land the plane.
THE GREATEST THING IS WHEN YOU’RE DOING A MOVIE AND YOU’RE IN a different town, especially a place like Toronto where they’re probably making ten movies at one time, and some of your pals are up there too. In this one hotel it was me and the gang from our movie—John Cusack, Cate Blanchett, Angie, and Mike Newell, the director. Ritter was there because he was doing a TV movie with Nicollette Sheridan. Neil Jordan, the British director who did The Crying Game, was there. Robbie Robertson was there. Chuck Leavell was there. All the Rolling Stones were there too, because they rehearse up there before they go out on tour. I would go hang out at the bar with Cusack, Ritter, Angie, Nicollette Sheridan, Ronnie Wood, Chuck Leavell, Neil Jordan, and Robbie Robertson. That kind of gang, hanging out at the bar every night, it gets pretty interesting. And then Mick Jagger, who was in the room up above me, he knew I was going through some weird shit in my life at the time, and he would call me up to his room and we’d just sit there and talk about shit for hours. He would drink wine and sometimes play the piano.
This song of mine called “Angelina” that I did on my first album and that we redid for the Boxmasters is about the first day Angie and I got to Toronto. When we were in the elevator.