Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Steve Coogan, Taylor Russell, Neve Campbell, Griffin Newman, Pico Alexander, Tina Benko, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., Judith Light, Skylar Astin, John Rothman, Geoffrey Cantor, Jin Ha, Declan Michael Laird, Judah Friedlander, Michael Panes, Amy Holmes, Milda Gecaite, Teddy Coluca, Oona Roche, Tuffy Questell, Jared Sandler, Kevin Alexis Rivera, Yaron Urbas, Jamar Rogers, Lara Wolf.
Opinions are either aired, discussed with grace and settled, kept to one’s self or they fall into that ever rich and growing bracket of being on a par of the exposed dirty laundry, flapping in the wind, shameless, often unwarranted and never apologised for; the latter attracting noise, the empty can taking on the wind of expression and enjoyed by those who are angry, who see the world as a football that needs to be kicked into shape by size ten shoes and by those who want to see the world reflected back at them, displaying their own image.
This phenomenon is not confined to the world of social media, which by any definition attracts its own fair share of suspects to the cause, willing to shout down anyone who does not agree with them, and whilst this sort of behaviour was once happy to exist in the public house debate or in the stormy fields of the school playground, it is now a national, and international pleasure palace, filled with rhetoric, attitude and in some cases, absolute bile and Hot Air.
Diligently directed by Frank Coraci, Will Reichel’s screenplay, Hot Air, sees Steve Coogan give a truly blessed performance as Lionel Macomb, a right wing talk show host who sees his agenda as one of might and righteousness, the cynical moral backbone of an America that has got lost along the way, and to whom, as he puts it, has seen its dream die.
Regardless of the sentiment and your own personal beliefs when called into question, when conversation becomes toxic, when it becomes a one sided battle to which threatens public speaking or the rights of others, that is when we find we must, and should, pull back and learn some compassion. It is the face of yanked confrontation to which Lionel Macomb relishes, both personally and professionally, until family history catches up with him in the shape of his niece Tess and the memories of constant let down by his sister and mother.
As an insight into the human condition, Hot Air isn’t afraid to get into the dirty corner of life, to expose the hypocrisy on both sides of the political divide, and whilst Steve Coogan’s portrayal of Lional Macomb is but a frightening replica of all the so called shock jocks and opinionated hosts who like to say they relish the clean debate but who secretly enjoy taking people down a darker path, it could be argued they serve their own purpose, by raising the debate on certain acts of their own life, the power behind the throne of inquisition.
Steve Coogan brings the character to life in a way that many would be hard pressed to even consider, but he also shows the very human essence within him, his own pain and suffering that drives any person on if they have been left to live life to their own rules.
A very appealing film, Hot Air hits a certain spot of discussion, and thankfully knows it.
Ian D. Hall