'Sully' Review

Image from Coming Soon

By Darian Scalamoni

            Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger is an everyday man. He has a wife and two daughters, he has been piloting airplanes for over 40 years but on January 15^th, 2009, everything changed. It was on that date that he piloted the US Airways Airbus A320 and made an emergency landing in the Hudson River. Not only that, but he saved everyone on board. It was from that day forward that Sully would be known as a national hero. The flight had just taken off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport when a flock of birds took out both engines. Unable to make it back to LaGuardia or any other nearby landing strips, he eyeballed it and decided that landing on the Hudson was the best option to attempt to save all 155 passengers and crew on board that day. Well, he did it.

            Clint Eastwood’s (Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven) latest film covers the eventual landing and the after effects the landing had on Sullenberger at large. The man who landed the plane was on the cover of every major newspaper and was interviewed by pretty much any major network you could think of. But the aspect that many didn’t know about that was also covered throughout was the tense investigation going on the week following the landing. It had a massive impact on the after effects of both Captain Sullenberger and his First Officer Jeff Skiles.

            The movie is based Sully’s own memoir titled Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters which he co-wrote with journalist Jeffrey Zaslow, and it opens at the moment where things start to go wrong. Sully, played by Tom Hanks and Nichols, played by Aaron Eckhart find themselves over Manhattan not able to find a place to land. The flight than becomes a literal nightmare as the place crashes in the middle of New York City which then wakes up Sully shaken from what he saw in his sleep. Though everyone is alive and accounted for, the fact that something could’ve gone wrong haunted Sully in the days following the emergency landing. This happens multiple times throughout the film which then lends the viewer the idea that the story structure of the film will not be as linear as previously expected.

            We then get a look inside the National Traffic Safety Board’s investigation and how the moderators of the interview treated the situation that is often nicknamed “The Miracle on the Hudson”. The NTSB believed that Sully had enough time to land the plan on a runway through simulated practices and research done by aviation engineers and other experts, which leaves Sully and Nichols questioning what they did to save the hundreds of souls on board.

            Sully, though, is a film that is well acted by Tom Hanks who has become somewhat of a “Meryl Streep” when it comes to awards consideration. It seems that every time the guy is on screen, he is in line for at least consideration for an acting nomination at the Oscars, this role is no different. The movie is also well paced despite its non-linear arc on screen that includes flashbacks of the pilot and weird and somewhat choppy phone conversations with his wife, who is played by a frankly, underused Laura Linney. The film shines every time we get another interpretation of the actual landing though. Every sequence that showcases the events that happened on January 15^th, 2009 helps you discover more about the process and makes you feel like you are on board with the passengers and crew. It is truly an authentic look and its well-directed by the standards of Eastwood himself.

            Though, Sully is predictable, it can’t help the fact that the events happened so recently, that everyone knows how the film will end. It was up to Eastwood and the screenwriter, Todd Komarnicki who provide an interesting aesthetic and look into the life of Chesley Sullenberger. It’s a showcase for Hanks who evokes the true compassion the actual pilot had for everyone on board and his actions and the eventual success it led to. Eckhart is also terrific in his portrayal as the pilot’s right hand man and offers humor within the film when its needed. The film is an emotional one that is filled with the familiar biopic tropes and though I don’t think it will be a contender for Best Picture, it’s a step in the right direction towards awards season for all involved.

8.3/10