Movie Review: Sully
I was 17 years old when Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberg landed his plane in the middle of the Hudson River. I remember watching the news coverage and thinking to myself how out of place the plane looked sitting on top of the water with the passengers all lined up on the wings. It wasn’t a sight you see everyday and not one the world has seen since, at least not to my knowledge.
Move forward seven years later and Clint Eastwood has turned Captain Sullenberg’s story into his latest film and while not his best film, “Sully” still manages to grab your attention and hold it until the very end thanks largely in part to Tom Hanks’s mesmerizing performance as Captain Sully himself.
On Jan 15, 2009, after experiencing engine failure, Captain Sullenberg landed his plane on top of the Hudson River saving the lives of all 155 people on board. Almost instantly the entire country regarded him as a hero but not everyone seemed to agree with that label and he was brought under an extensive investigation in which he is accused of making the wrong decision and put the lives of everyone on board at risk. Harassed by reporters and with his reputation on the line, Captain Sully searches for a way to clear his name as his trial dates grows near.
As I mentioned earlier, “Sully” isn’t Eastwood’s best film. Not since “Million Dollar Baby” has Eastwood really given us a film that left us speechless by the time the credits rolled. But just because “Sully” isn’t his best doesn’t mean it’s a bad film. It’s a rather good one and one that I enjoyed a lot but knowing the kind of director Eastwood can be, I’ve just come to expect more from him.
Out of all the flaws this film had, its biggest one is simply that there wasn’t much of a story to tell to begin with. As amazing as Captain Sully’s story was, it didn’t feel like there was enough of it to make it into a movie. At an hour and half, “Sully” is Eastwood’s shortest film in years and even that feels like it’s a little too long. Often, I felt like Eastwood was trying to stretch out the story as long as he possibly could until he finally realized he just didn’t have enough material to start off with in the first place. Not only does the story feel drawn out, but the ending also feels extremely long and practically pulls a “Sopranos” in its final few seconds. Is Sully’s story worth telling? Yes it is, but perhaps a feature film isn’t the best way to do so and was probably better off just staying as a book or TV special.
All of that being said though, “Sully” is not a film you will regret watching and one of the best films to be released all year. It’s certainly a lot better than most of the movies that were released this past summer season and a good way to kick off the month of September which is otherwise known as a “slow” month for movies. The scenes depicting the plane crash are tense and stress inducing and you realize just how lucky that flight really was. The thing that really saves this movie though, is the cast Eastwood has put together which is something he’s always been good at.
There aren’t a lot of main characters in this film and it only really has three main leads which is just fine because they do such a good job at carrying the film on their shoulders. Aaron Eckhart, who isn’t given much to do as Sully’s co-pilot Jeff Skiles, definitely has his moments of charms and most of the film’s laughs come from his dialog. As Sully’s wife, the always brilliant Laura Linney is given even less to do than Eckhart but even with the few scenes she has, she still manages to deliver an excellent performance which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. The real hero of this movie though, much like his real life counterpart, is Tom Hanks.
It’s crazy to think that Hanks has been acting for nearly four decades and even as he reaches the age of 60, he’s still proving that he really is one of Hollywood’s greatest actors. In fact, I think his talent has only gotten better as he’d gotten older. Hanks has made a career out of playing the “everyman” in his films and “Sully” is no different. Hanks has a way of making you feel like he’s just like everyone else, a regular joe who you wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he was living next door to you. From what I’ve heard, the real life Captain Sully is just that type of man and Hanks performance captures Sully in every way an actor can when portraying a real live person on screen. Hanks definitely carries the entire film on his shoulders and the only reason this movie worked was due to his portrayal of Captain Sully. There’s a moment during the end credits when we see the real Captain Sully speaking to the passengers and crew that he saved and it’s easy to see just how well Hanks nailed his performance.
“Sully” is almost like a glorified TV movie but one that is worth spending your money on. Even if you do find the story lacking action, if anything this movie will serve as a way for you to remember how lucky we are to still have Hanks acting in our movies.
The bottom line, while not his greatest film, Eastwood manages to bring to life Captain Sully’s tale of heroism to life and remind us all that you don’t need a shield made of vibranium or an iron suit to be a hero.
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