Hot Air

Hot Air is a 2019 American comedy-drama film directed by Frank Coraci, written by Will Reichel, and starring Steve Coogan, Taylor Russell and Neve Campbell. The plot follows a conservative talk radio host (Coogan), whose life and worldview is upended by the arrival of his biracial 16-year-old niece. The film was theatrically released in the United States on August 23, 2019, by Freestyle Releasing and Lionsgate. Plot Lionel Macomb (Coogan) is an abrasive conservative talk personality, who hosts a popular eponymous daily radio show in which he regularly lobs insults at callers and politicians who disagree with his views. Long estranged from his addict sister Laurie (Tina Benko), her half-African American/half-Caucasian 16-year-old daughter, Tess (Russell), seeks out Lionel—as he is her only living relative not afflicted by substance abuse—at his upscale Manhattan apartment following her mother's relapse, which sent Laurie back to rehab. After introducing herself to her uncle, whom she never previously met, after walking in on him having a sexual affair with his maid, Tess convinces Lionel to let her stay by threatening to tweet about his heartless actions when he tries to deny her a place to stay; forgoing his "pick-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps" beliefs against providing charity or any outside help, he relents and gives Tess the spare bedroom in his apartment. Tess receives support from Lionel's publicist and girlfriend Val (Campbell), who tries to see the good in Lionel despite his gruff, hardline persona. Tess reveals to Val that, after expressing hesitance to leave her ailing mother, she had made a deal with Laurie to attend the prestigious Harper Academy if her mother enters and completes rehab. Ratings for Lionel's program are beginning to decline as viewers begin to tire of his abrasive style and flock toward his former protégé, Gareth Whitley (Astin), whose show promotes a kinder, more religious-based approach and encourages debate between liberal and conservative viewpoints. After Tess receives a job as an intern on her uncle's show and she criticizes his take on a "clean slate" bill to expunge liabilities for undocumented immigrants, Lionel has her rebut his points on-air.