Sully (Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney) — Tom Hanks’ stellar career has included playing real-life people in extraordinary circumstances. From Jim Lovell in Apollo 13 to James Donovan in Bridge of Spies to — Richard Phillips in Captain Phillips, Hanks brings to life stories of heroism that pop from the big screen. Director Clint Eastwood chose wisely in casting Hanks as Captain Chesley Sullenberger in Sully, the story of the “Miracle on the Hudson.”
A beautiful morning in New York turned petrifying for the crew and passengers of a flight from LaGuardia Airport when birds flew into the engines shortly after take-off, flaming them out and leaving Sullenberger few choices to save the 155 people on board. Sully is the story of the flight, the pilots and the investigation in the aftermath.
Eastwood took the bold path by not telling the story sequentially, instead focusing on the investigation rather than the flight itself. While the public focused on the remarkable landing on the water, the rescue of all 155 on board, and the poise of the captain, the National Transportation Safety Board was looking into whether Sully’s heroics were even necessary.
Couldn’t he have made it back to LaGuardia or nearby Teterboro or Newark Airports rather than ditching his multi-multi million dollar aircraft and precious passengers into the Hudson? Did he have to put 155 people at risk that fateful morning? Armed with computer and human simulations, the NTSB seemed to be less than impressed with America’s newest aviation hero.
Sully puts the audience through the emotional roller coaster of Sullenberger; his co-pilot, Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart); and Sully’s wife, Lorraine [Laura Linney in her third Eastwood film (Mystic River, Absolute Power)]. The acting carries the film even if the characters are written one dimensionally.
Eventually, Eastwood unveils the reenactment of the 208-second flight but he does it adroitly and with enough suspense to keep us on the edge of our seats.
But this is not a perfect movie by any means. Eastwood condenses the year-long investigation into what is portrayed like a weeks-long soap opera. And Clint’s solemn piano-laden soundtrack, his signature, seems out of place and stale.
That said, Sully tells a great story about skill and luck. And as I write this 36,000 feet above the Earth, it seems all too real.