Taylor Russell, Steve Coogan
“HOT AIR” My rating: C
99 minutes | No MPAA rating
Given our current political climate you’d expect a movie about a right-wing radio pundit to have at least a little bite.
“Hot Air,” though, is a particularly toothless affair.
Scripted by Will Reichel directed by Frank Coraci (“The Wedding Singer,” “The Waterboy”), this film offers the spectacle of Steve Coogan — perhaps our greatest portrayer of supercilious asshattery — as radio blowhard Lionel Macomb, a self-described “deliverer of hard truths” who daily takes on liberal women (“I prefer to go by only one last name”), immigrants (“I don’t think we should build a wall… a moat would be more effective”), climate change and socialized medicine.
He’s been pretty successful at this, as shown by his posh high-rise apartment and impeccably tailored wardrobe.
Of course, he is so hated in some quarters that Lionel can only walk to his car from his broadcast center flanked by a phalanx of bodyguards.
Into Lionel’s toxic world comes a breath of fresh air…his 16-year-old niece Tess (Taylor Russell) whom he has never met. Tess’ mom, Lionel’s estranged sister, is an off-and-on druggie currently in rehab. Young Tess pretty much blackmails Lionel into giving her a place to stay…it wouldn’t look good if a millionaire who rails constantly about welfare cheats throws his own flesh and blood into the welfare system.
Butler's Cinema Scene 